A parliamentary committee agreed Wednesday to review the conflict between the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) over the handling of the killing of entertainer Robert ‘Kentucky Kid’ Hill.

Only four members of the 17-member joint select committee appointed to review the matter turned up at the start of its first meeting at Gordon House, yesterday.

They selected Government backbencher Mikael Phillips (North West Manchester) to act as chairman, in the absence of deputy speaker of the House of Representatives Lloyd B Smith who was said to be unavoidably absent.

The committee agreed to study conflicting positions taken by DPP Paula Llewellyn and INDECOM boss, Terrence Williams, on the handling of the matter over the next four weeks, after which they will inform the House of Representatives whether they think the issue should be referred to the Cabinet.

Hill was shot and killed on December 8, 2009 at his home in Ivy Green Mews, Kingston, in what police said was a shoot-out. But a jury at the Kingston and St Andrew Coroner’s Court rule last August that five people be charged with murder.

The five — Special Corporal Uriel Anderson, Constable Gary Thomas and Special Constable Norval Warren, and civilians Marvia Morgan and Donovan Brown — were charged with the murder. However, they were freed after Llewellyn told the court it would be impossible to mount a viable case against them.

Commissioner Williams rejected Llewellyn’s position and sent a report to Parliament, pointing out that there was no dispute over whether the three policemen were responsible for Hill’s death.

“The contentious issue is whether the killing was justified for self-defence. The commission humbly opines that, on the evidence, there was a prima facie case with a reasonable likelihood of conviction that Thomas, Warren and Anderson murdered Hill. The killing was therefore unjustified and the first obligation of the right to life breached,” INDECOM insisted in its report.

The DPP reacted that “a close examination” of the INDECOM report revealed “misstatements and misconceptions relating to fact, law and policy”.

“It is our considered view that such a report has the potential to mislead the public, undermine the well-established professional courtesies between key stakeholders within the criminal justice system, and thereby affect the public confidence in the administration of justice,” Llewellyn said.