A special select committee of Parliament is to review the circumstances surrounding the death of Robert Hill, a Jamaican entertainer also known as Kentucky Kid, who was killed in December 2009.

Leader of the House of Representatives Phillip Paulwell, told members recently that a report from the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), as well as a reponse from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn are to be reviewed by the committee, which is likely to be chaired by the deputy Speaker of the House, Lloyd B Smith.

The revival of the special select committee, which had existed under the previous government but ceased to function since the change of government, followed complaints from commis-sions of Parliament, including INDECOM and the Political Ombudsman, that their reports are not being reviewed when they are laid in Parliament, hence no further action is taken.

INDECOM reported at the end of October 2014 that a special report was sent to Parliament regarding the case of the fatal shooting of Hill by the police. In a follow-up news release, INDECOM said it believed that there are issues that require special attention from Parliament.

The Commission argued that there is a strong prima facie case that Hill’s right to life was breached, because the evidence revealed that his life was taken by unjustified use of force by agents of the state.

Additionally, INDECOM said that there was no effective prosecution, and the view is supported by evidence that the officers’ accounts of the incident and possible inferential evidence that the killing was motivated by a private grouse.

Scientific evidence did not support allegations that Hill fired upon the police officers before he was killed, INDECOM said. INDECOM also indicated its concern about the manner in which the matter was brought to an end.

In November last year, the Cabinet discussed the INDECOM report, which highlighted concerns about how the case was handled by DPP Paula Llewellyn. INDECOM claimed that ineffective prosecution in the matter of the fatal shooting of Hill led to the five accused being freed. They were freed after the DPP told the court it would be impossible to mount a viable case against Corporal Uriel Anderson and Constables Gary Thomas and Norval Warren and the two civilians, Marvia Morgan and Donovan Brown.

Llewellyn criticised INDECOM for reporting her to Parliament, charging that it was “ignorant of the facts”.

Paulwell said that the report, which eventually triggered a sharp debate with former Opposition spokesman on justice, Senator Alexander Williams, noted with grave concern the discord between the DPP and INDECOM over the Kentucky Kid case.

Williams said the time had come for the Parliament to improve working relation-ships by establishing protocols for collaboration between the DPP as the chief prosecutor and all investigative agencies.