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JFJ describes delay in Mario Deane’s case as a travesty of justice

Published:Saturday | August 10, 2024 | 12:06 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
Mario Deane
Mario Deane
Mickel Jackson
Mickel Jackson
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WESTERN BUREAU:

Mickel Jackson, the executive director of local human rights lobby Jamaicans for Justice [JFJ], says the slow pace at which the case against three police officers who were charged in connection with the 2014 death of Mario Deane, a detainee at the Barnett Street Police Station, amounts to a travesty of justice.

Deane was beaten into a vegetative state at the Barnett Street Police Station on August 3, 2014, just a few short hours after he was arrested and charged for having a ganja spliff (joint/marijuana cigarette) in his possession. He died three days later at the Cornwall Regional Hospital without regaining consciousness.

Three police officers and three mentally ill inmates were charged in connection with Deane’s death. However, while the case against the three inmates have been disposed of, the case against the police officers has been dragging through the courts for a full 10 years.

“We are disappointed that the matter has been delayed on several occasions due to administrative issues of the State, such as missing reports or non-appearance of police personnel,” said Jackson, who spoke to The Gleaner on behalf of the JFJ, which is watching the court proceedings against the three officers on behalf of Deane’s family.

“The matter has found the most recent delays happening due to the shortage of juror turnout, but the State is also to face blame here,” noted Jackson.

The three police officers, Corporal Elaine Stewart and district constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant are facing charges of manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice.

“It is a travesty of justice that Mercia Fraser, Mario Deane’s mother, has not yet gotten closure for her son’s death. It is a gross injustice that Mario Deane died the way he did, and it is an indictment on the State that the matter has not been ventilated before the courts,” said Jackson. “Unfortunately, Deane is emblematic of a broader issue of the State violating the rights of citizens, and then the wheels of justice turn ever so slowly, resulting in witnesses dying, moving away or just no longer being interested in giving evidence.”

As it relates to the matter of insufficient jurors to try the case against the three officers, Jackson stated that, on January 18, 2021, the officers, through their lawyers, asked for their case to be tried by jury instead of being tried by the judge alone.

“On the April 15, 2024 court date, it was revealed that some 500 individuals were summoned for jury duty, with 23 responding but only 14 appearing as required,” said Jackson. “Notably, the court was advised that the process of summoning potential jurors commenced less than three weeks before the scheduled trial date. The matter, therefore, could not commence. Enough is not being done to ensure that you have sufficient jurors turning out for court, so that you have enough numbers to have a jury being empanelled.”

Mercia Fraser, who also spoke with The Gleaner on Thursday, described the current situation as frustrating and depriving her relatives of their long desire for closure.

The three police officers’ trial has been postponed more than 10 times since their case first came before the St James Circuit Court on September 18, 2018.