Judgment reserved in Chucky Brown conviction appeal

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in the case of former police constable Collis ‘Chucky’ Brown, who was alleged to be a member of the infamous police ‘death squad’, who is seeking to have his conviction and 51-year sentence overturned.

Brown was found guilty in 2018 on three counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and wounding with intent. He was sentenced in January 2019 to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a total of 51 years before becoming eligible for parole.

At the time of sentencing, Brown was 41. He now argues that his sentence was “manifestly excessive” and that the trial judge erred by not allowing separate trials for each incident.

Evidence presented at the trial showed Brown fatally shot Damoy ‘Gutty’ Dawkins along the Palmer’s Cross main road in Clarendon on January 10, 2009. He was also convicted of murdering Dwayne Douglas and Andrew Fearon along the Swansea main road, also in Clarendon, on December 13, 2012.

For Dawkins’ murder, Brown received life in prison with eligibility for parole after 20 years, plus additional sentences of eight years for conspiracy and 15 for wounding with intent. For the 2012 double murder, he received two life sentences with 31 years before parole on each count.

Justice Vivene Harris, who handed down the sentence, ruled that the sentences arising from each incident were to run concurrently, but consecutively to each other.

Brown’s appeal challenges both conviction and sentence. His attorneys, Norman Godfrey and Patrick Peterkin, argue that the trial judge erred by refusing to sever the charges for separate trials, by rejecting a no-case submission, and by admitting three question-and-answer documents allegedly obtained under inducement.

The court heard that Brown was part of a Clarendon-based ‘death squad’, which allegedly carried out extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals.

In an interview with INDECOM, played at trial, Brown described how he was recruited into the unit because he “had the heart” for it. He claimed the squad had 16 members, received instructions from a senior officer, and was given resources such as an M16 rifle and a white Probox vehicle to carry out killings. He alleged the Police High Command supported their work and celebrated their role in reducing murders.

UNDERMINED TRUST

Justice Harris, who presided over the trial, described the killings as acts of “extreme moral turpitude” and said Brown’s actions had severely undermined public trust in the Jamaica Constabulary Force. She emphasised that high crime rates do not justify extrajudicial killings.

Brown’s attorneys argue that the charges involved separate incidents with no clear factual connection and should not have been tried together.

“The allegation of murder by itself is not sufficient to establish nexus,” they submitted. They also challenged the admissibility of Brown’s statements, saying they were made involuntarily while he was unrepresented.

Regarding the no-case submission, the lawyers pointed to weak eyewitness testimony and inconsistencies between the evidence and the pathologist’s report, which showed the victims were shot from the front – contrary to the Crown’s theory.

They also argued that the sentences imposed were unusually harsh and wrongly structured.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com