COURT DOCKET

Jamaican singer-actress Grace Jones failed to show up Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica, for her trial on cocaine possession charges and a court said it will order her arrest if she doesn’t appear at the rescheduled trial. Her attorney told the Criminal Court magistrate that her “absence was due to contractual obligations in Italy which she was unable to break, and should not be taken as any form of disrespect for the court.” The magistrate issued an arrest warrant but immediately suspended it, making it effective Oct. 3 if she fails to show up for a new trial on that date. The trial has already been postponed three times since it was originally scheduled in June, either because prosecutors were not familiar with the case, witnesses were missing or judges failed to show up. Jones, 37, returned to the Caribbean island for the last three trial dates after flying from Paris, Italy and Spain. Each time she complained of the high cost of flying back to Jamaica, only to learn in court that the trial had been suspended. Jones was arrested in April while vacationing in Kingston and charged with possession of .006 ounces of cocaine that police found in her handbag. Police said the street value of the cocaine was less than $18. She was freed on $2,500 bail.