‘I am innocent’

Reputed One Don Gang leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan on Monday distanced himself from being the head of the feared St Catherine criminal outfit while accusing two of his alleged ex-cronies of fabricating lies against him.

The 38-year-old is accused of leading the alleged criminal enterprise and of ordering multiple hits. He is also said to have killed one of the victims himself in the September 2017 double murder-arson attack, which claimed the lives of couple Jermaine Bryan and Cedella Walder in Fisheries, St Catherine.

Two former gang members, including Bryan’s personal driver, had testified against the accused gang leader and 27 other defendants in the case.

But the self-proclaimed music producer has declared his innocence during an unsworn statement from the prisoner’s dock before Chief Justice Bryan Sykes in the Home Circuit Court.

“I did not do the things that the witness is saying I did. I did not give anyone any instruction to kill anyone. I am not or never have I been a part of any criminal gang.

“I did not shoot anyone at New Nursery or Fisheries community. I wasn’t there. I am innocent of these charges,” he said, noting that he has never been convicted of any criminal charges.

During the trial, the two self-confessed gangsters, who are now prosecution witnesses, had also testified that the gang had extorted businessmen, contractors, taxi and bus drivers as well as vendors in St Catherine, using the money to fund the gang’s activities.

But Bryan, who now has to answer to eight counts out of an initial 17, said: “I know nothing about any extortion money.”

The defendant, who is the only person to be called in his defence, presented his case after Justice Sykes ruled that he has a case to answer in relation to being the leader of the gang, while his 27 remaining co-defendants also have a case to answer in relation to being members of a criminal organisation.

The judge also ruled that some of the defendants would still be tried for facilitating murder, illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, conspiracy to murder and arson.

In the same vein, some of the defendants were found not guilty in respect to six of the counts on the reduced indictment.

At the beginning of the trial, which commenced last September, 33 defendants were indicted on 25 counts, but the Crown had abandoned six counts while five of defendants were freed– four after the prosecution admitted that it did not have sufficient evidence against them and a fifth released after a no-case submission was upheld.

At the end of Monday’s proceedings, five more counts were shaved of the indictment.

The judge, in delivering his ruling, upheld the no-case submission for some of the defendants in respect to four of the counts while the prosecution abandoned another count.

The failed counts included the murders of a man identified only as ‘Ice’, and an unknown man at a hardware, both in Spanish Town, St Catherine, as well as the charge of illegal possession and ammunition against two defendants.

The judge explained that the murder cases lacked supporting evidence.

In the hardware murder, while it was alleged that police had attended the scene and that the victim’s body was eventually removed, the judge said no evidence was presented to prove that a homicide had occurred.

He highlighted that there were no photographs, crime scene report or other evidence from a detective who had investigated the matter.

“You don’t even have a post-mortem report. Nothing apart from the assertion that this person was shot and he fell to the ground, but that in and of itself does not mean that the person died,” Justice Sykes said before finding Bryan and the alleged shooter, defendant Ted Prince, not guilty.

In the Ice matter, Bryan and co-defendants, Fabian Johnson, Stephanie Christie, Jahzeal Blake, Andre Golding and Lamar Simpson are charged for reportedly conspiring to kill the man. Sykes explained that no evidence was also presented in this instance to prove a homicide had taken place.

The gun charges stemmed from a 9mm Ruger pistol and a bottle with ammunition, which the lead investigator had reportedly seized after he went to the gang’s alleged headquarters on Jones Avenue, Spanish Town, with one of the prosecution witnesses under the guise that he was his uncle.

Defendant Roel Taylor had reportedly handed the gun to the ex-gangster while another defendant, Joseph ‘Papa’ McDermott, had reportedly given him a bottle with the ammunition hidden in cornmeal.

But the gun charges fell after the judge took issue with the handling of the exhibits by the two detectives. who had taken the items to Caymanas Police Station for safe- keeping before they were taken to the laboratory.

The judge contended that there was no evidence to prove that the items that were collected were the same items that were handed over to the laboratory. And that the Crown did not fill that gap as no one from the police station was called.

Furthermore, he said the lead detective’s evidence did not assist the Crown as he could not point to any distinguishing feature that the gun had, except to provide its brand and that it had no serial number.

“The features that he spoke of are not remarkable in and of itself to distinguish this firearm from any other,” Sykes explained, noting that the same went for the ammunition.

The judge ruled that some of the defendants have a case to answer in respect to seven of the 10 remaining murders on the indictment, including two double homicides.

Four of the murder cases were previously abandoned, while the Crown conceded another yesterday and the judge found that the Crown had not made out a case in respect to two others.

But some of the defendants in at least three of the murder matters were found not guilty after the judge found that that there was not enough evidence to substantiate a case against them and upheld their no-case submissions.

The case was yesterday adjourned until Wednesday to give the some of the defence attorneys time to make arrangements for the witnesses – including character witnesses – who they will be calling in their respective matters.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com