Jamaica Observer online readers have weighed on a report that the deaf/mute in the Mario Deane case has still not been charged. Deane died after being beaten while in the custody of the police. The story was published yesterday. Here are some edited comments:

WordOfTruth

Why not show a picture of the monsters who did this? Very sad story. Nobody deserves to die like this. RIP.

Paddy5

“The deaf/mute man, identified only as ‘Dummy’ was alleged to have punched Deane on the instructions of Orr” …The only way the deaf/mute man could act is through sign language and it was only the madman who could communicate with ‘Dummy’. How many more twists and turns we are going to see before the truth is revealed? And why wasn’t the third man charged for being an accomplice in Mr Deane’s death? The police knew very well what happened and they’re not speaking the truth.

Incognito

Before this, they said that the only person that could communicate with him is his family as he does not understand official sign language. So him beating Mario based on instructions is highly flawed.

Sondon

I don’t believe none of the three men dem dweet. How convenient that all three have some form of mental or physical shortcoming. “Let’s blame the mad and deaf/mute as dem can’t defend themselves”. The level of corruption in the JCF stinks to high heaven.

deafdeaf

“Deaf and Mute” (or even just “mute,” when applied to people who do not speak) is an archaic term that is considered offensive.

Many deaf people do not use a spoken language, thus are technically “mute”. The word “mute” has an archaic meaning that means “dumb”. Of course, the word “mute” also has another more common meaning now that implies which certainly is not applicable to most deaf people.

Given the history of deafness, and the fact that deaf people have been incorrectly assumed to be mentally deficient just because they do not speak, you can imagine that most deaf people do not appreciate being called “deaf and mute.”

Today, anyone using the word “mute” in such context is … well …dumb.

Please see that you update your article to eliminate the word “mute”.

Prommo

@deafdeaf: What is your point, it is reported that he is deaf/mute which I understand to mean he neither hears nor speaks. Do you know otherwise?

CuCu

@deafdeaf: And after all that babbling, you still didn’t recommend a more politically correct word to use.

C465Kelly

1. This trial is going to be the most interesting trials of the year.

2. Because it is alleged that some person(s) instructed the beating death of Mario Deane and now want to allege that the deaf/mute is the one.

3. Even though the deaf/mute is not yet charged, for their safety they should be isolated in prison.

jadalink

Something is wrong with this case.

aaronomix

Blame it on a deaf/mute. These police not easy.

DB

Why would you continue to report on a blatant lie? It’s your job to…, but it irks me to read it. Everyone already knows how this young man died. If the judge, prosecution, and investigators allow these ridiculous charges to stick without uncovering the truth, how can we trust the system?

fieldgar

This charge being placed on a schizophrenic and a deaf/mute reminds me of the charge against the foot soldiers being charged in the death of Keith Clarke. If justice is to be achieved, you have to go to the source. Otherwise it will end up a circus.

Elelle

The JCF honestly thinks that Jamaicans have the collective IQ of a doorknob. This is utterly ridiculous and insulting. I do hope that Indecom is able to complete their investigations quickly. By the way, Observer, where is the article about the autopsy results? At least inform your readers of when it will be expected.

Mars

Question, who alerted the police if the beating went on unheard of for 30 minutes?

sassy

This is so interesting. Only an insane man, a mute/deaf man and Mr Dean knew what was happening. Mr Dean died; he cannot give evidence. The mute/deaf explains what he can do… nothing because he does not speak so only the INSANE man is left to tell the police what happened and the police were not aware of the occurences till 30 mins after it began.

tyroneosborne

Well somebody is taking the Jamaican people fi Heedyat! Once you pin the charge on the deaf mute, forgive me for the term, then there can be no trial. Jamaican judges are not likely to be trying mentally challenged people for murder. In some places they do convict people who can’t explain themselves. So with that, the responsible officers who knew or should have known about the other prisoners would have been off scot-free!

Even Stevie Wonder could clearly see through the whole matter!

dipr

people still get arrested for marijuana? LOL! Keep on drinking that alcohol!