WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — A former senior investigator at the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) pointed out the three cops charged in connection with the incident in which Mario Deane was fatally beaten while in custody, as those she arrested in 2014.
The three accused are Corporal Elaine Stewart, district constables Marlon Grant and Juliana Clevon, all of whom are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office.
During the trial in the Westmoreland Circuit Court on Tuesday, the Crown’s 15th witness, Mollie Plummer in her testimony in chief, pointed out the three- all dressed in black -as those sitting in the prisoner’s dock and the comments they made while being arrested.
At the time of the arrest, Plummer said Stewart commented, “I am innocent.”
“I am innocent. Are you crazy,” was the reply of Grant according to Plummer.
However, she said Clevon remained silent.
Plummer further told the court that at the time of the arrest, all three were represented by attorney Martyn Thomas who is now representing Stewart and Grant.
Clevon is now being represented by attorney Dalton Reid.
The allegations in the case are that Deane was arrested for possession of a ganja spliff and 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