SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — The level of preparation by a former Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) senior sleuth was brought into question on Tuesday during the trial of three cops charged in relation to the death of Mario Deane in police custody in 2014.

Investigator Mollie Plummer, the Crown’s 15th witness who started her testimony on Monday, struggled to recall several things, including accounts of statements she took from witnesses.

“Was there anything preventing you from reviewing your notes or a copy of the file prior to giving evidence in this case,” questioned Martyn Thomas, the lawyer representing two of the three accused cops on trial in the Westmoreland Circuit Court.

“Geographical constraints and the demand of my present job,” Plummer suggested, accounted for her lack of preparation.

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

The lawyer representing Clevon asked during cross-examination, “Did you call Indecom and ask, ‘Where are my notes?’ ”

“I did not. I did not see that it would have become necessary at this time,” stated the witness.

“I gave evidence regarding my actions and involvement in this matter, apart from some specific dates that I can’t recall.”

One such aspect was her failure to remember if she had collected a shoe from one of the men who was in cell number four with Deane.

The investigator was also unable to say if a witness who was an inmate and who gave a chilling account of Deane’s beating and the reaction of the cops, was in cell number two.

On April 22 the former inmate told the court that he gave Indecom a statement in August 2014 which indicated that while he was, at some point, in cells one and two in 2014, he was in cell two at the time of the incident with Deane.

The former inmate also told the court that the statement Indecom took was incorrect and that he had pointed it out to Plummer.

Following interjection from the Crown, Plummer was shown a statement the witness, who was an inmate, gave on August 11.

Under cross-examination from Thomas, Plummer told the court that the former inmate signed the statement as true after he was allowed to correct any mistakes that may have been made. She noted that if there was no correction, the former inmate would sign all seven pages as true, according to standard protocol.

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.

The case was adjourned until 11:00 am on Wednesday, May 7.