MARIO DEANE TRIAL
Justice Daye rejects lock-up policy document taken from Internet
Published:Tuesday | May 13, 2025 | 12:12 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Justice Courtney Daye on Monday dismissed another attempt by the prosecution to have a lock-up policy document admitted into evidence. The policy was allegedly in effect in August 2014, when Mario Deane was fatally beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay.
“The court will not admit the document, which was marked ‘C’ for identity, into evidence because it is not authentic and was taken from the Internet. For admissibility, more is required, and in terms of authenticity, it has to be verified by someone from the police force,” Daye said, in making his ruling in the Westmoreland Circuit Court.
Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant are charged in connection with the August 3, 2014 beating of Mario Deane, who died three days later at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay.
Earlier in the trial, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kevin Francis, who was in charge of the station at the time of the incident, testified that he had accessed the policy via an email and distributed it to officers. However, the prosecution’s efforts to introduce the document into evidence have repeatedly failed due to authenticity concerns.
Defence attorney Martyn Thomas, representing Stewart and Grant, argued against its inclusion, stating, “ ... The document is an abstract from the Internet and has not been properly authenticated as a genuine police document that has been certified”, a position which found favour with the judge.
Before this final decision, the judge had reserved judgement on whether the document could be admitted before the prosecution’s closing arguments.
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant – who were on duty at the time – face charges of manslaughter and misconduct in public office. Stewart is additionally charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly ordering the cell cleaned before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived.
Deane, 31, was arrested on the morning of the incident while en route to his construction job. He was reportedly found with a ganja spliff, arrested, and taken into custody at Barnett Street, where the fatal beating occurred.