Keith Clarke murder trial again delayed

Justice Dale Palmer today accepted an application from the Crown to delay until Monday the hearing of evidence at the trial of the Jamaica Defence Force soldiers charged in connection with the May 2010 murder of Keith Clarke, after earlier turning down the application.

The trial which began yesterday with the empanelling of the jury was slated to continue this morning in the Home Circuit Court.

However, prosecutor Yannick Forbes, made an application for the matter to be adjourned until Monday, citing challenges with the availability of the transcript for Clarke's widow, Dr Claudette Clarke. The transcript is of Dr Clarke's evidence which was given at a hearing which concluded last month.

Noting that the prosecution had intended to start with Dr Clarke's testimony for an efficient and seamless flow of the proceedings, Forbes explained that it would be prudent to delay the trial as the defence indicated that it required the transcript to conduct cross-examination.

Additionally, he indicated that another witness the Crown was planning to start with is no longer available due to a medical issue while another potential witness requires a subpoena to appear.

But defence attorney Peter Champagnie, KC, said it was unfortunate that the application was being made today and that the application was hard to accept given the expressed urgency on the Crown's part to start the trial.

Attorney Linton Gordon further questioned why the trial could not start with one of the other remaining witnesses.

Noting that he was surprised by the application, Justice Palmer said he did not understand the request in light of the previous urgings from the Crown for the case to start.

He indicated that he was not minded to grant the application and pointed out that two witnesses were present and that the Crown could start with one of them or with Dr Clarke's testimony.

He then stood down the matter for the prosecution to determine how it would proceed.

However, when the matter resumed, Forbes indicated that the witness who had the medical issue actually has a blood clot in the brain and that the prosecution would be unable to proceed. Consequently, he urged the judge to have a change of heart as the Crown wished to proceed in a certain way and starting now would affect that.

The judge in response said he was disappointed, but given the circumstances reluctantly granted the adjournment.

The case has been ongoing since 2012 when chief prosecutor Paula Llewellyn ruled that three soldiers, lance corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley, as well as private Arnold Henry, be charged for killing Clarke at his home in 2010. 

But the matter has been delayed due to a number of legal challenges relating to immunity certificates granted to the soldiers in 2016 by then national security minister Peter Bunting.

The businessman was shot 21 times inside his home, located on Kirkland Close in St Andrew, on March 27, 2010, during a police-military operation to apprehend then fugitive drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.

- Tanesha Mundle

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