KINGSTON, Jamaica – The commission of enquiry into the 2010 Tivoli Gardens operation resumed yesterday with testimony from a United States-based firearms expert that the evidence collected for forensic testing in the aftermath of the deadly incursion was of very little help.

“There exist very little potential to provide probative ballistic result in this event, “Matthew Noedel, a US-based consultant to Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), said in his statement which was quoted at the enquiry yesterday.

 The expert said he was given 150 bullets fragments to analyse, including fragments from dead bodies and spent shells, and of the total exhibits only 32 had potential value.

“Majority of the fragments that were recovered were of no value. They were simply small fragments that could not be compared other than cataloguing and counting the number of cores or bases, they will never be useful microscopically to identify a specific firearm,” he told the enquiry.

Among his reasons given for reaching that conclusion were the absence of traditional shooting scene documentation and a severe lack of evidence. Further to that the expert also expressed concerns about the lack of spent shells recovered.

“One of the things that was glaringly obvious to me is that I had well over 150 individuals fragments and hundreds of round obviously fired and multiple victims and virtually no cartridge cases,” he said.

“For every bullet delivered there has to be a cartridge case that was originally holding the rounds of ammunition. So when I speak to a severe lack of evidence one of my questions was where are the cartridge case from this vent,” Noedel further testified.

According to the expert, a primary part of any forensic investigation was the collection of spent shells, which is very valuable in helping to identity the vicinity in which the shooting was located, the number of shot fires and the number of bullets recovered.

Noedel also testified that majority of the fragments that were examined were related to small arms except for one that he did not recognise as being from an hand gun or shoulder gun. As it relates to the fragments that were recovered from bodies of the victims, Noedel said “many of the victims sustained 5.56 calibre wounds with projectile probably fired from M16s.”

Tanesha Mundle