State custody the best alibi, Sykes admits in gang trial

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes on Thursday acknowledged that being in the State’s custody is one of the best possible alibis that the alleged Clansman-One Done gang members could have.

Justice Sykes made the observation while reviewing the defence for two of the defendants, who had countered the charges against them, saying that they were in police custody on the dates when they were accused of committing shootings and murders with the gang.

Kalifa Williams, who was described as one of the gang’s top shooters, contended that he had been in custody since September 2016, and as a result, could not be a member of the gang.

The other, Tareek James, who is said to be the bodyguard of the reputed gang leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, is contending that he had been in custody since November 7, 2017.

Evidence presented by the State confirmed that they had been in custody. Williams from January 2016, and James from November 17, 2017.

“From Mr Williams’ standpoint, you can say the best possible alibi to be in the custody of the State. What better proof can there be than the State saying you were with us?” Justice Sykes said during his summation while reviewing the defendants’ evidence as well as that of witnesses from the Department of Correctional Services.

The duo is among four defendants who have submitted that they were in custody during the periods they have been accused of committing crimes with the gangs.

Williams, during sworn testimony, had denied being a member of the gang or being a shooter, claiming that he did not even own a gun.

He also told the court that he did not know Bryan and that he first met the alleged gang leader in 2019, when they were all charged in the case.

Williams further testified that he was first arrested in September 2016 and was locked up at Spanish Town Police Station before he was moved to the Horizon Adult Remand Centre and has been there since.

James, for his part, had denied knowing of the gang or being a member during his unworn statement. He, too, said he did not know Bryan and denied going on any killing mission with him and the gang.

Williams was charged along with other defendants with the murder of a man at a tyre shop along the Spanish Town Bypass in St Catherine on November 2, 2017. But the judge had ruled that the Crown had not provided sufficient evidence to implicate him in the murder.

He was also charged with a 2015 murder, but that count was abandoned by the Crown.

Based on the evidence presented, James is suggesting that he would have been in custody during the November 15, 2017, murder of a bus driver. He had been accused of committing that crime, along with Bryan and other defendants.

His alibi, however, does not absolve him from the September 9, 2017, arson and double murder of a couple at New Nursery Fisheries in St Catherine, in which he is accused of being one of the killers.

The judge had indicated earlier in the trial that the prison alibi does not put the four defendants completely in the clear.

Justice Sykes said that based on the evidence of one of the ex-gangsters and prosecution witness, covering the period from late 2016 to 2017, the defendants’ time in custody does not free them from being involved in the incidents detailed by the witness.

Twenty-seven defendants are being tried on an indictment with 14 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act.

Justice Sykes will continue his summation on Monday.