SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Defence lawyers representing three cops in the Mario Deane Trial have highlighted several inconsistencies in damning testimony provided by the Crown’s eighth witness.

On Tuesday the man told the Westmoreland Circuit Court he gave more than one signed statement but they were incorrect as this was done under duress. He also told the court that he felt comfortable speaking with the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) because he was not pressured into giving a statement.

The witness’s comments came while being cross-examined by the defence about what he knew of the 2014 incident.

Corporal Elaine Stewart as well as district constables Marlon Grant and Juliana Clevon are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office in connection with Deane’s death.

Among the inconsistencies revealed on Tuesday was the number of the cell in which the witness was located at the time Deane was beaten. During his testimony last week, the witness indicated that he was in a nearby cell — either cell three or four.

However, on Tuesday, Dalton Reid, the lawyer representing Clevon, showed the witness a statement he gave Indecom on August 11, 2014 in which he claimed that while he was in cells one and two in 2014, he was in cell two at the time of the incident with Deane.

The witness noted that, while the document shown to him stated that he was in cell two, he did not remember saying that. Reid then asked that this be placed into evidence as Exhibit 6.

The witness, who insisted that the claims regarding cell two are incorrect, further explained that he told Indecom he was in cell three.

“That statement was given to Indecom investigators who you have great comfort in. Am I correct?” asked Reid. “That is correct,” the witness replied.

The witness also told the court that only certain specifics of his statement were read over to him in January 2015, as he was too traumatised to ask for the entire statement to be read to him.

The witness also stated that there were two statements, but one had inconsistencies that he had to correct.

Reid also asked the witness if, in 2014, he was locked up at the Barnett Street Police Station without bail and wanted to leave. The witness said, “No.”

However, he later admitted to having a big problem with inmates at Barnett Street Police Station.

Before Reid’s cross-examination, Martin Thomas — the lawyer representing Stewart and Grant — picked up his line of questioning from where he left off last Wednesday.

Thomas asked the witness if he said in a statement that there was an argument with the new guy [Deane] and another inmate over who was on which bunk.

The witness said he did not remember. However, after being shown the August 11 statement, he agreed that he had said it.

During the court proceedings, the cops on trial listened attentively from the prisoner’s dock, sometimes with smiles on their faces.

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 Indecom.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday, April 23, at 9:00 am.