Attorneys to agree on images to admit into evidence in Mario Deane case

The trial of the three cops in the 2014 death of Mario Deane was stood down Thursday morning in the Westmoreland Circuit Court to allow the defendants' lawyers time to agree on the pictures to be admitted into evidence from an Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) witness.

High Court Justice Courtney Daye stood down the trial of Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, after being told that the prosecution and the defence lawyers had not yet come to an agreement about which pictures and videos currently on a compact disc (CD) submitted by INDECOM investigator Peter Parkinson will be used as evidence in the case.

The trial had previously been rescheduled following Parkinson's partial presentation of his evidence-in-chief on Monday, to allow extra time for the images on his submitted CD to be agreed on by both sides for submission into evidence.

However, Clevon's lawyer, Dalton Reid, told the court Thursday morning that a determination has not yet been made in relation to which pictures and video footage will be allowed into evidence and which will be refused.

The matter was set to resume around noon.

"The court cannot make a ruling of the admissibility of the CD unless the defence gives its position. The defence is entitled, in the interest of their clients, to have the time to instruct themselves," Daye said prior to the adjournment.

Stewart, Clevon and Grant are facing charges of manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, under allegations that they were on duty at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in Montego Bay, St James on August 3, 2014, at the time when Mario Deane was beaten into an unconscious state while in custody at the facility for possession of a ganja spliff. Deane died at the Cornwall Regional Hospital three days later.

Stewart, the senior officer at the time, is also charged with perverting the course of justice, where it is alleged that she ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before INDECOM investigators arrived.

- Christopher Thomas

Follow The Gleaner on X 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.