COVID-19 gets Mario Deane case rescheduled to July 6
Published:Friday | March 27, 2020 | 12:11 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
IN A bid to observe the COVID-19 protocol, the St James Circuit Court on Wednesday shifted the next hearing date for the case against Marvin Orr and Adrian Morgan, the inmates charged with murder in relation to the 2014 death of Mario Deane, to July 6.
In an interview with The Gleaner on Wednesday, Morgan’s lawyer, Franklin Haliburton, said that the new date was given by High Court Justice Glen Brown in accordance with directives from Chief Justice Bryan Sykes for all courts to take action aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, which has resulted in 25 infections and one death locally.
“The matter has now been scheduled for July 6 because of the edict issued by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes concerning the COVID-19 issue. That date was sent to us by the court, as they didn’t bother to transport the men to Montego Bay (for Wednesday’s court hearing),” said Haliburton.
“I’ve been doing my own follow-up with the doctors to make sure the men’s psychiatric reports are ready, and for Morgan, the report is ready. So we should be able to deal with that matter on July 6,” the attorney added.
The case against Orr and Morgan has been delayed six times to date in its progression to trial, due to outstanding psychiatric evaluations for the defendants who both suffer from mental defects. A request for those evaluations had originally been made on September 18, 2019, with a deadline set for October 3 and then for November 25 that year.
On January 7, 2020, a report was submitted for Morgan but not for Orr, who is represented by attorney Trevor Ho Lyn. Orr’s outstanding report led to the case’s rescheduling to Wednesday’s date when it was last mentioned on January 27.
Mario Deane was brutally beaten on August 3, 2014, while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay. Deane died three days later at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.
Orr and Morgan, who were also in custody at the Barnett Street lock-up at the time of the beating, were subsequently arrested and charged, along with a third inmate, Damion Cargill. In July 2017, Cargill was judged unfit to stand trial and was released into his family’s care.