Mario Deane could have gotten station bail, cop tells court

Corporal Orville Williams, the police witness currently testifying in the trial of three police officers in the 2014 beating of Mario Deane, today told the Westmoreland Circuit Court that Deane could have gotten station bail.

The 31-year-old construction worker was beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in St James on August 3, 2014, and died at hospital three days later.

Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, who were reportedly on duty at the station at the time, are on trial in relation to his death.

Continuing his evidence-in-chief which began on Wednesday, Williams - who was assigned to the Barnett Street Police Station in 2014 - said that persons who are taken into custody for minor offences, such as possession of ganja or disorderly conduct, can be considered for station bail in their own surety, or without needing another person to bail them.

However, he noted that Deane, who was taken into custody for possession of a ganja spliff, required a surety to bail him because he was unable to give the police directions to his house.

Williams also explained that if a prisoner requires a surety to come and bail him, that prisoner is processed and put in a cell until the surety arrives at the station.

The trial is currently ongoing.

Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are all charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, in relation to Deane's death.

Stewart, the senior officer in charge at the time, is also charged with perverting the course of justice, where she allegedly ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived.

- Christopher Thomas

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.