WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Supreme Court Judge Justice Courtney Daye who is currently presiding over the Mario Deane case has rejected attempts to have a pair of pants belonging to the deceased admitted into evidence.

The ruling was made earlier today in the Westmoreland Circuit Court during the trial of the three cops charged with the incident in which Deane was fatally beaten while in police custody in 2014.

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

This is the second time that the package marked ‘F’ has been denied from entering into

On March 6, the Crown asked Supreme Court Judge Justice Courtney Daye to allow the pair of pants to be shown to Deane’s mother, Mercia Fraser. However, Dalton Reid, the lawyer representing Clevon, objected on the grounds that there was nothing provided to say that Fraser knew the pants.

The showing of the pants to the mother was later denied by Justice Daye.

Then on Monday, April 28, the  Crown made another attempt when a forensic officer with 25 years’ experience, the Crown’s 11th witness to testify in court, testified virtually by the Zoom platform. The witness was unable to clearly see a pair of pants presented by the prosecutor and as a result, another attempt was made today.

The Crown asked Justin Daye for permission to go further in having the item identified. However, this was denied by the judge.

“We cannot go any further with this witness. That is as far as she can go with her evidence,” stated Justice Daye.

While the Crown tried to bring further clarity to having the item identified, Justice Daye further argued, “It is marked for identity and I am saying that this witness cannot put it into evidence.”

“She cannot go any further,” added Justice Daye.

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