MONTEGO BAY, St James — One of three men charged with the beating death of Mario Deane while in police custody in 2014 has escaped being tried for the fatal incident.

A seven member jury on Monday (March 20) found that Damian Cargill, a deaf and mute, is unfit to plea.

The decision by the jury was made following a report from three experts during Monday’s hearing.

Two psychiatrists who evaluated Cargill testified on Monday.

The first testimony came from Dr Clayton Sewell, who disclosed that Cargill is not only deaf and mute, but suffers from schizophrenia. He said the accused was able to function at the age level of a 16-year-old when on his medication.

The other psychiatrist, Dr Myo Oo, told the court that the accused would not be able to stand trial due to a number of communication issues.

A third report came from linguistic expert, Dr Karen Cumberbatch. The report, which was read in court, stated that Cargill’s language skills matched that of a four-year-old.

“Mr Damian Cargill communicates at a level… at best, his language skill matches that of a four year-old child,” diagnosed Dr Cumberbatch in the report read by the registrar.

Cargill’s attorney, Franklin Halliburton has requested a probation report to be done and made available for Wednesday, April 5.

On this date, Justice Viviene Harris will make known her decision as to whether Cargill will be sent to a state facility or allowed supervised care with his family as stated under section 25c of the Criminal Justice Administration act.

Meanwhile, the other two men, Marvin Orr and Adrian Morgan, are slated to return to court on Wednesday, April 5 for the scheduling of a trial date.

Deane, a 31 year-old construction worker was taken into custody at the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay, St. James, for the possession of a ganja spliff on Sunday, August 3, 2014. Dean died three days later in hospital after receiving severe injuries to the head while in police custody.

Anthony Lewis