Westmoreland, Jamaica — A former inmate of the Barnett Avenue Police Station lock-up in St James, the place Mario Deane sustained deadly accidents almost 11 years in the past, maintained his account on Tuesday of a police officer’s alleged involvement within the incident.
Throughout his continued cross-examination within the Westmoreland Circuit Courtroom, the witness firmly repeated claims that Constable Juliana Clevon had approached him following the beating on August 3, 2014, urging him not to discuss what had occurred. The beating led to Deane’s dying three days later, whereas he was in police custody on a minor ganja possession cost.
Legal professional Dalton Reid, a part of the defence crew for Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Clevon and Marlon Grant, tried to problem the witness’s credibility. Reid urged that Clevon had left the police station within the ambulance with Deane and due to this fact couldn’t have spoken to the witness as alleged. Nonetheless, the previous inmate rejected the assertion and stood by his unique testimony.
The witness was additionally proven photographs on a laptop computer that depicted the doorway to the cell block. He refuted the defence’s suggestion that he wouldn’t have been capable of see the reception space from his cell, sustaining that he had a transparent view by way of the cell’s grille.
Beneath re-examination by the prosecution, the witness revealed he had been pressured by cops into giving a press release in regards to the incident. He additionally distanced himself from elements of a press release attributed to him in a report given to the Unbiased Fee of Investigations (INDECOM).
The trial in opposition to Stewart, Clevon, and Grant resumed right this moment. The three are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in public workplace in reference to Deane’s dying. Stewart faces an extra cost of perverting the course of justice, with prosecutors alleging she ordered the cell cleaned earlier than INDECOM investigators might look at the scene.
Mario Deane’s dying sparked nationwide and worldwide outrage, prompting requires higher oversight of police custody procedures and human rights protections for detainees in Jamaica.
The trial continues.
