JFJ pleased with progress in Mario Deane case
Published:Thursday | March 6, 2025 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
With the empanelling of a jury for the trial of the three police officers implicated in the death of Mario Deane finally taking place, human-rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) is calling for an examination of the circumstances that caused a similar exercise in St James to take almost 10 years since the 2014 incident, ultimately causing the case to be transferred to Westmoreland.
Deane suffered a brutal beating at the Barnett Street Police Station in St James, which left him battered, bruised and unconscious. He died three days, on August 6, 2014, at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, having never regained consciousness.
“We saw over 56 persons registered for Monday’s proceedings at the Westmoreland Circuit Court. That is a great improvement over what we were seeing in Montego Bay, St James,” said Jade Williams, the JFJ’s police research advocacy manager. “We even had issues with the court in Montego Bay opining about the serving of summonses, and that was one of the challenges why jurors were not available.
“It is good to see that we were able to finally get that service done and have the jurors available, but I think there must be some examination of what would have prevented similar circumstances in the other forum, in the St James court,” said Williams.
The case against the three officers – Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant - who are charged with manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice, was transferred to the Westmoreland Circuit Court for trial on November 15, 2024, after repeated attempts to have a juror empanelled in St James failed due to issues such as summonses not being served for jury duty.
NATIONAL DISGRACE
High Court Justice Bertram Morrison, who presided over the St James Circuit Court at that time, ordered the change of venue. Morrison also condemned the failure to serve the jury summonses and the protracted delay in getting the case going as “a national disgrace”.
Up to their last appearance in the St James Circuit Court, Stewart, Clevon, and Grant had their trial rescheduled more than 10 times since their first appearance in that court on September 18, 2018.
In the meantime, Williams said while JFJ had hoped the case would be transferred to the Home Circuit Court in Kingston for trial, her group was satisfied with the progress of the matter since its transfer to Westmoreland.
“We were asking for the Home Circuit Court because we thought similar results (seating a juror) would come out of the Home Circuit,” said Williams. “We were glad to see that the moving of the matter did help, even if it was not to the Home Circuit Court, and it was a great decision to move the case elsewhere.”
The three officers were reportedly on duty at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in Montego Bay, St James, on August 3, 2014, at the time when the then 31-year-old Deane was allegedly beaten while in custody.
It is also alleged that Stewart, the senior officer on duty, ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived.
The case, which was expected to get under way on Tuesday, was delayed after one of the seven jurors failed to turn up. It is now expected to start today.