SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Often struggling to hold back tears on Thursday, the mother of Mario Deane, who was beaten to death while in police custody, finally got to give evidence she had been waiting for more than a decade to share.

From the stand in the Westmoreland Circuit Court, Mercia Fraser described in chilling detail the condition of her injured son after he was admitted to Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) and what his body later looked like in death.

She was the first witness the Crown called to the stand in the long-awaited trial of three cops charged in connection with Deane’s death.

Fraser told the court that she had two children, a son and a daughter.

She said the male, Mario, who was born on November 6, 1982, was a construction worker who had no children.

At the time of his death he was living at Rose Mount in St James while she was living in Hanover.

Fraser said she last saw her son in April — three months before their lives changed forever.

According to her testimony, on Sunday, August 3, 2014 she was in Hanover when, sometime after 10:00 am, one of her phones rang. She answered the call, which was from a number with which she was not familiar. She said she heard Deane’s voice when she answered.

Fraser told the court she left home for CRH’s Accident and Emergency Department, where she was led to a young man identified as Mario Deane.

“He was lying on the bed with instruments strung all over him,” said Fraser, who later described drips and life-support machines, such as a nebuliser, attached to her son.

She also said there was a dark mark on the left side of his neck and cheek. His head was also swollen.

“One of his eyes was puffed, and the other one appeared to have a cut mark over it,” Fraser stated in reply to questions from the prosecutor.

She said on September 2, 2014, an autopsy was performed on Deane’s body at CRH. An independent pathologist was present.

“His skin was darker than before, and he was swollen…,” stated Fraser, her voice trailing off as she struggled to hold back her grief.

A funeral service was held for Deane on September 20, 2014.

The three cops on trial are Corporal Elaine Stewart, and constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant. They are all charged with manslaughter, perverting the course of justice, and misconduct in a public office.

The allegations are that Deane was arrested for possession of a ganja spliff and placed in custody, where he was brutally beaten. He received severe injuries to his brain, which left him in a coma and his eventual death.

It is alleged that the three cops were on duty at the police station at the time Deane was beaten. It is further alleged that Corporal Stewart instructed that the cell in which the attack took place be cleaned before the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.

On Thursday, the case was adjourned early because of the unavailability of a Crown witness. That individual is expected to take the stand on Friday when the trial continues.

But the day began with Supreme Court judge Justice Courtney Daye addressing an issue that arose on Tuesday: the absence of a juror.

While she appeared in court alongside her fellow jurors on Thursday, the juror was later excused on medical grounds. Justice Daye explained that he had in his possession a medical certificate indicating that the juror had to seek medical attention while on her way to court on Tuesday and she is unavailable for jury duty for the next 30 days. As a result, a man was later selected from a jury pool of eight people who showed up for jury duty on Thursday.

When asked by Justice Daye, the newly selected juror stated that he would be available and did not have a medical condition that would impact his availability.