WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — The prosecution in the Mario Deane case had to proceed without its second witness, who remains ill and has been placed on sick leave.

The disclosure was made known when the three cops on trial made an appearance in the Westmoreland Circuit Court on Wednesday.

The cops 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.

When the case was called in court on Wednesday, the Crown informed the court that she had received information that Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kevin Francis, who is ill, needed to seek medical attention.

The Crown also noted that DSP Francis was granted five days of sick leave.

Supreme Court Judge Justice Courtney Daye said DSP Francis’s testimony could continue on another day and the evidence of another police witness, DSP Orville Williams, could be taken today as previously planned.

As a result, the Crown called DSP Williams, who was stationed at the Barnett Street lockup in 2014.

On Tuesday, the hearing of the case was adjourned early due to DSP Francis being ill.

This is the third time that the illness of the senior officer has impacted the case.

On Monday, the case was adjourned early after the Crown revealed that its witness was under the weather and had to seek medical attention.

The allegations are that Deane was arrested for possession of a ganja spliff and placed in custody, where he was brutally beaten on August 3, 2014. Deane received severe injuries to his brain, which left him in a coma.

He died three days later at Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James.

It is alleged that the three cops were on duty at the police station at the time when 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 (INDECOM).

– Anthony Lewis