WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — DNA results from tests conducted and analysed from blood samples taken from Mario Deane have pointed to Deane as the source of the blood found in a section of the cell block and on clothing belonging to one of the inmates.
The disclosure was made by the Crown’s 12th witness from the Institution of Forensic Science and Legal Medicine, who continued her testimony Thursday from where she left off on Wednesday.
The witness told the Westmoreland Circuit Court that nucleus swabs were taken from Mercia Fraser, the mother of Deane in March of this year and an analysis was conducted.
The witness explained that the nucleus swabs were analysed and a comparison was made with a swab from the passageway in front of cell number 4, the shorts from one of the inmates, Adrian Morgan, and fingernail clippings taken from Deane during a postmortem.
On the day in question, Deane, who was arrested for possession of a ganja spliff, was placed in a cell with Adrian Morgan, Marvin Orr and Damion Cargill, who were charged in connection with the beating death of Deane. Morgan and Orr pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to time served in custody, while Cargill, who is deaf and mute, was deemed unfit to plead.
“The source of blood on exhibit is the biological child of Mercia Fraser. [And therefore] Fraser cannot be excluded as being the mother of the source of the blood found on the swab found in the passageway of cell number four, the shorts from Adrian Morgan and the fingernail clippings of Deane,” stated the witness.
She continued, “DNA probability is 99.9 per cent, and therefore the source of the blood cannot be excluded as Mario Deane.”
During her testimony, she also pointed out that no profile was obtained from a swab taken from a drainpipe outside the cell block.
The three accused are Corporal Elaine Stewart and District Constables Marlon Grant and Juliana Clevon, all of whom are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office.
The allegations in the case are that Deane was placed in custody, where he was brutally beaten on August 3, 2014. He sustained severe injuries to his brain, which left him in a coma. He died three days later at Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.
It is alleged that the three cops were on duty at the police station when Deane was beaten. It is further alleged that Stewart, who has an additional charge of perverting the course of justice, instructed that the cell in which the attack took place be cleaned before the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.
— Anthony Lewis