Unavailable jury stalls defence’s closing arguments

Western Bureau:

The much-anticipated closing arguments by the defence in the trial over the beating death of Mario Deane did not start yesterday, as one member of the seven-member jury was unavailable to attend due to illness, forcing the presiding judge, Justice Courtney Daye, to adjourn the case until next Monday.

In explaining the decision to halt the case until Monday, Daye explained that based on how the justice system is structured, all seven empanelled members of the jury must be present at all times, and since the jury in question will not be available until next Monday, the case, which is ongoing in the Westmoreland Circuit Court, will not resume until then.

In the case, which has been ongoing for 31 days, Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant are on trial for manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, in relation to the death of Deane, who suffered a brutal beating at the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay on August 3, 2014. He died three days later at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.

All three police personnel were reportedly present at the police station at the time Deane, who was arrested earlier that same day for possession of a ganja spliff, was beaten. Stewart, the most senior of the three, is additionally charged with perverting the course of justice, as she reportedly gave instructions to clean the cell, where the beating took place, before a scheduled visit by investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).

Since the start of the trial, the Crown has solicited expert testimony from a retired pathologist; the senior police officer who oversaw the Barnett Street lock-up at the time of the incident; a forensic investigator from INDECOM; and forensic scientist from the Institute of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine. Testimony was also heard from Deane’s mother, Mercia Fraser, and a former inmate who was in custody at Barnett Street at the time.

The defence put on a limited case, which centres around all three defendants giving unsworn statements from the dock, proclaiming their innocence and dismissing the account of the inmate who said he had seen Stewart verbally abusing Deane and another defendant physically assaulting him.

In its closing argument, which took place on Tuesday, the Crown urged the jury not to give any credence to what was described as ‘fluff’ in the defence’s cross-examination but, instead, focus on the evidence that was presented to them.

“I ask you to arm yourself with the evidence that you have heard, when you go into the jury room. Arm yourself with the observations you have made of the witnesses. Arm yourself with your everyday mark of appreciation of how you treat your neighbours, friends, and children when they are telling you something and you want to know if it is true or not; dissect what they are saying [by] tearing it apart,” prosecutor Kimberly Williams.

Following the defence’s closing argument, Daye is expected to provide the jury with instructions to guide them through their deliberations as they seek to determine the guilt or innocence of Stewart, Clevon and Grant, who have been before the court since 2014, when the case commenced in the St James Circuit Court. The matter was subsequently transferred to Westmoreland, primarily due to the inability to seat a jury in St James.

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