THE prosecution yesterday failed to have statements about the May 7, 2003 shooting at Crawle, Clarendon that were given by the six accused policemen admitted into evidence.

Osbourne Dyer, a retired assistant commissioner of police, was about 20 minutes into his testimony in the murder trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and five other members of the disbanded Crime Management Unit when defence lawyers argued against the admittance of the statements from the accused policemen.

The Crown, led by Terrence Williams, argued for more than an hour that statements given to Dyer by lawyers for the defence, could be admitted into evidence, because the accused had waived their rights in allowing the documents to be given to a third party.

Williams said the statements were always intended to be handed over to the police, but Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe asked for the evidence.

The chief justice said he would have to be satisfied that the accused waived their rights in submitting the statements to the police for them to be used as evidence. He said any lawyer who did that would be acting inappropriately.

Williams said it was not a question that the statements were taken from the police, but were given after a request was made.

Debra Martin, appearing for accused Roderick Collier, said the intention to rely on the statements was made to the defence at a meeting prior to the trial. She argued that the defence could never agree to that, “as the statements were submitted for a specific purpose, and it was never intended for them to be relied on in a criminal trial”.

Martin said the statements were given as part of departmental requirements, intended for limited purpose, and at the time the men did not know there were suspects.

Williams, referring to the 1913 case of Ibrahim, where a soldier of lower rank made a confession, and King and Culpus 1913, military court of inquiry, and where statements were admitted into evidence, argued that the same should apply.

The chief justice said, however, that the situations were different and hearing enough, he ruled the statement in inadmissible in the interest of justice.

Earlier, Dyer testified that he was asked to supervise the investigations into the incident at Crawle on May 12, 2003, by former police commissioner Francis Forbes.

In addition to Adams, the other policemen on trial for murder are Patrick Coke, Devon Bernard, Shane Lyons, Roderick Collier and Leaford Gordon.

They are charged with the May 7, 2003 deaths of Angella Richards, Lewina Thompson, Kirk Gordon and Matthew Jones.

The trial continues today.