Absent juror derails start of cops’ trial for beating death of Mario Deane

WESTERN BUREAU:

Yesterday’s much-anticipated start of the trial of three police officers, who are facing a range of charges in connection with the 2014 beating death of Mario Deane, did not get under way as one of the seven jurors empanelled on Monday was absent.

Deane’s mother, Mercia Fraser, who endured 10 years of frustration in St James before the case was transferred to the Westmoreland Circuit Court late last year, was not pleased with the latest delay and did not hesitate to express her disappointment and annoyance after she came hoping to finally see a start to the trial.

“I actually felt like I would cry, because we had built our hopes up so much and felt so good about this, and then today’s events happened. It does not feel good, and it really dampened my spirit, but we are not giving up,” said Fraser.

The trial of the three police officers, Corporal Elaine Stewart and constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, which is being handled by High Court Justice Courtney Daye, is rescheduled to start tomorrow as the juror who was absent yesterday is expected to be in attendance.

Yesterday, Daye told the three defendants and the other six jurors that, based on the court’s checks, the absent juror had left home to attend court but did not have her phone with her, making it difficult to contact her directly.

“One information that has emerged is that the juror left home but also left her phone at home, so up to this point there is no means of communicating directly with her… . We are not in a position to determine whether we should wait further or where the juror is,” Daye said.

FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

Fraser has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for her son, who died on August 6, 2014, three days after being brutally beaten while in custody at the lockup at the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay. Her son, who was 31 years old at the time of his death, was in custody after he was arrested for possession of a small amount of ganja.

“I am going to ride out the storm, although sometimes I really feel like quitting, because this is holding me back. I am losing money because I work for myself, so therefore, if I do not work, I do not have any pay to get, and then I have to find money to spend to come here,” said Fraser. “But I did this for 10 years, and I think I can manage to go through.”

Attorney-at-law Martyn Thomas, who is part of the defence team for the three police officers, alongside fellow attorney Dalton Reid, told The Gleaner that he is hopeful the trial will start tomorrow as the defendants have had the charges looming over them for the past decade.

Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice. It is alleged that they were on duty at the Barnett Street Police Station at the time Deane was beaten. It is also alleged that Stewart, the senior officer on duty at the time, ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived to commence their investigations.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com