EDITORIAL - Police competence and the Kartel case

We understand Owen Ellington's being chuffed at the guilty verdict in the Vybz Kartel murder trial and that it may have served to reinforce the mutual admiration that apparently exists between himself and Paula Llewellyn, the head of the prosecution services.

Indeed, like Justice Lennox Campbell, who presided over the case, this newspaper believes that the evidence was overwhelmingly against Kartel and the three of his co-accused who were similarly found guilty and that, in the circumstance, the jury had no choice but to deliver the verdict it did.

But in quieter moments, when the headiness of the victory has passed, should Mr Ellington, the police chief, and Ms Llewellyn choose to reflect on matters, they will concede that the case highlighted grave investigative and procedural incompetence on the part of the police and, to a lesser extent, prosecutors. And they will determine that their processes and systems are in need of an urgent fix.

Indeed, the apparent soundness of the basic evidence against Adidja Palmer, Kartel's given name, and his group, notwithstanding, these blunders could well provide the technical openings through which the defence might squeeze at appeal.

For example, the case against Kartel and his co-accused rested primarily on the testimony of the witness who saw Clive 'Lizard' Williams, whose body has not been recovered, being beaten to lifelessness. Then there was the digital information extracted from mobile telephones used by Kartel and another of the convicted men, dancehall DJ, Shawn Storm, as well as telephone data records from the service provider for the phone used by Williams.

BACKUP DISC

Two primary discs with the records and data were provided by the phone company: one you would expect to be used for copying and analysis; the other to be kept safely, to be used as reference in the event of discrepancies and questions of authenticity. Somehow, between the prosecutors and the police, they contrived to lose the backup disc.

Losing things seems to be contagious. The head of the Flying Squad, Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford, who arrested Kartel and confiscated the entertainer's mobile phones, lost his notebook in which he recorded information about these instruments.

Further, Sergeant Patrick Linton, who used to head the police Cybercrimes Unit and who extracted data from the phones, in behaviour that, at best, is careless in the extreme, left the keys to the cabinet in which he stored the phones on top of the very cabinet. Sensitive information, Kartel's phones or anything else was easily accessible to anyone who wished to avail themselves of the key.

One of Kartel's phones, a critical exhibit in the case, was used to make calls while in the custody of the police. Deputy Superintendent of Police Vernal Thompson was "most concerned, but not surprised" that this could happen in the constabulary given the fact of corruption in the police.

There, too, was the evidence of a forensic analysis of Kartel's home, where the murder took place, being trudged over without due care and of the absence of crime-scene restrictions on the property.

The eyewitness, as was the digital evidence, was compelling and believable, as the jury held. But in this case, and others, justice can be undermined by operational incompetence.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.