Supreme Court Justice Vinette Graham Allen on Thursday dressed down alleged leader of Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman Gang for holding the court ransom for over two hours because of his refusal to attend the hearing, and his co-accused for engaging police in a “brawl” after their last court appearance.

She made it clear that the judiciary had no intention of allowing gangs to flout their powers at will.

The judge, in expressing dismay over the row which occurred after she adjourned the matter on February 8, said: “That isn’t going to happen in the Supreme Court of Jamaica. The rule of law will prevail and will always prevail in this country.”

In the same breath, while pointing out that she had been deliberate in ordering that the matter resume at 10:00 am on Thursday, given the sheer number of individuals on the indictment and the issues which were to be addressed, Justice Graham-Allen took Miller to task, making reference to the ongoing conflict in Haiti which is now under the gun of rebel gangsters who have locked Prime Minister Ariel Henry out of the country, threatening genocide unless he resigns.

“In a neighbouring country in the Caribbean where a leader, it is alleged, of a gang, seems to be giving orders, it is not going to happen in this beautiful country, ain’t no, it’s not gonna happen, the rule of law is what prevails in this country,” Justice Graham-Allen declared, in a tone which brooked no argument.

Miller — who is currently serving 38 years at hard labour for engineering the 2008 murder of former chairman of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) Douglas Chambers — made his first appearance in this matter on Thursday to answer to charges under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) (Amendment) Act, commonly called the Anti-Gang law, for leadership of the organisation. His 22 co-accused are to answer to membership charges.

The rotund Miller, sporting two piercings and clad in a white T-shirt and red short pants, sauntered into Courtroom Number 1 of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston at 12:05 pm looking peeved after all his co-accused were already seated, and promptly perched in the back of the main dock, stubbornly refusing to move to the area reserved for him in the front.

Although approached by two police officers, including the senior cop in charge of the prisoners, who informed him of the seating order, Miller stubbornly remained in place and insisted on speaking to his attorney.

Thursday a senior prosecutor, in responding to the judge’s request for answers about the late start, said Miller had been the only accused not on the court building at 9:45 that morning. She said Miller “refused to be brought to court” despite the fact that the police produced a writ of habeas corpus.

According to the prosecutor, the police, because of Miller’s defiance,“devised a plan of action and went back to Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre” and removed him bodily.

“Further instructions were that when they attempted to extract him from the centre he resisted and continued to resist while he was being taken into the Supreme Court and into this very courtroom, Mr Miller is now seated in the dock,” she said.

Attorney for Miller, John Clarke, in countering that account, claimed his client had been used “for a punching bag” and would require “immediate medical attention”. Justice Graham Allen, in enquiring for “evidence” of a beating in issuing a formal order for Miller to receive medical attention, said she would address the accused man’s complaint at the next hearing.

The matter was subsequently adjourned to allow for three of the accused who are without legal representation to secure same and to allow for material to be served on the defence by the prosecution. The judge, in the meantime, further ordered that the birth certificates of four of the accused be provided to the court for the correct spelling of their names to be verified, noting that this was creating an issue at the facility where they are being held.

In the meantime, the court was told that another two accused might be added to the indictment which would take the total number of defendants to 25.

In subsequently ordering all the accused remanded, Justice Graham-Allen further ordered that all should return to court “for a 10:00 am start” on April 18.

According to the police, the accused now facing trial are the sworn “enemies” of the rival Andre “Blackman” Bryan faction of the gang, 15 members of which are now serving sentences following a trial which began in 2021 and ended last year. Bryan, who was convicted for leadership among other crimes, was sentenced to 39 1/2 years behind bars when the matter concluded in October last year.

According to the police, the Klansman Gang, which at last count was linked to at least 800 murders dating back to 2014, is currently listed among the top five criminal organisations operating in Jamaica, with most of its activities centred in Spanish Town and surrounding areas. Its influence, however, has spread to Clarendon, Manchester, St Ann, St James, and Kingston.