13 years after shooting, Keith Clarke matter set for 2024
AS Keith Clarke’s widow Dr Claudette Clarke walked out of a courtroom inside the Supreme Court building on Tuesday she admitted that the wait for justice in his shooting death more than a decade ago has been very lengthy, but she had no choice but to allow the law to take its course.
“It’s not that easy, but we the family are hanging on in there,” she told the Jamaica Observer moments after the three members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) who are accused of the murder of her husband in 2010 at his Kirkland Heights home in St Andrew, were told by Supreme Court Justice Vinnette Graham-Allen that their bails would be extended to December 5.
On that date, when Corporal Odel Buckley, Lance Corporal Greg Tinglin, and Private Arnold Henry return to court, case management in preparation for their trial will continue.
The trial is expected to begin in April next year, but before trial, a voir dire or a pretrial will take place to determine whether immunity certificates issued to the soldiers by former Minister of National Security Peter Bunting can be rebutted by the director of public prosecutions. The pretrial was set for February 27 to March 22, 2024.
King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie, who is Buckley’s attorney, told Justice Graham-Allen that the defence will proceed on the legal issue of self-defence if there is to be a trial.
Justice Graham-Allen then said she would adjourn the matter for a few important things to take place. She ordered that all parties, which include the defence team and the prosecution, engage in discussions to settle on witnesses that will be called by each side. These discussions, Justice Graham-Allen said, must be concluded before December 1.
She told them that the period leading up to December 1 should be used to “hammer out everything that needs to be hammered out” and they must also agree on the expected duration of the trial.
In March this year, Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn had said that in the interest of justice there has to be balance in the matter.
“At the end of the day, we have to deal with the fact that the deceased, whose family is here, got 21 shots to the back,” she said.
