WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — A man who was in custody at the time of Mario Deane’s death in 2014 pointed out the three cops charged with Dean’s death as police personnel who would make regular check-ups on the cell block.

The man, who was convicted of a crime, is the crown’s eighth witness to take the stand for the trial of the three cops in the Westmoreland Circuit Court which continued on Monday.

The three accused are District Constable Marlon Grant, Corporal Elaine Stewart, and Constable Juliana Clevon, who are all charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office.

During his testimony in chief, the witness not only pointed out Stewart as the woman sitting in the prisoner’s dock in a red and white top but called her by name.

On the other hand, while he did not call the names of Grant, sitting in the prisoner’s dock in a black shirt, and Clevon, sitting behind Grant in the prisoner’s dock, he gave their aliases. He referred to Grant as “Short Man” and Clevon as “Indian” based on what he heard their colleagues called them.

The allegations in the case are that Deane was arrested for possession of a ganja spliff and placed in custody, where he was brutally beaten on August 3, 2014. He sustained 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 when Deane was beaten. It is further alleged that Stewart, who has an additional charge of perverting the course of justice, instructed that the cell in which the attack took place be cleaned before the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.

— Anthony Lewis