WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — The defence and Crown lawyers for the Mario Deane case are to be in court an hour ahead of the scheduled start time on Wednesday to have a discussion on the Jamaica Constabulary Force Lock-up Administration Policy and Procedures.

The policy deals with the treatment of people in lockups and correctional facilities.

Meanwhile, a former senior investigator from the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) testified in the Westmoreland Circuit Court that the cell in which Mario Deane was fatally beaten in 2014 had been tampered with before the arrival of Indecom.

The Crown’s 15th witness, Mollie Plummer, who started her testimony on Monday, made the revelation under questioning from Supreme Court Judge Justice Courtney Daye as she concluded her testimony in chief on Tuesday.

“The area would have already been tampered with prior to us getting there,” asserted Plummer who added, “At the time of my observation, the area where the incident took place was cleaned.”

The witness pointed out that such an activity violates section 21 of the Indecom Act. The act states that a crime scene should not be tampered with, and nothing should be done to obstruct its investigation.

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 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.

Earlier in the morning on Tuesday, Justice Daye made a ruling on an application made by the Crown for the acceptance of certain images.

An application was first made on April 8 by the Crown for a CD containing certain images to be shown in court. The photos were taken by a forensic crime scene investigator, Detective Constable Rickardo Evans, who carried out an inspection of the cell block on August 3, 2014.

Arguing that this could be more prejudicial, the lawyer representing two of the three cops on trial, Martyn Thomas, on Tuesday said he is unable to see what probative value this type of evidence would have.

“The prosecution still has not established a nexus between the substance outside the drain pipe and cell four or even the cell block. The analyst indicated that she could not obtain a profile as there was very little DNA. Because she could not obtain a profile, the analysis could not determine whether or not this blood matched anyone from the cell,” stated Thomas.

“While it is that there is evidence saying that persons were observed washing out cell four… outside of that, there is no connection between what is on the outside and what is alleged was removed from the cell,” added Thomas.

Justice Daye, in his ruling, noted that while there is no direct evidence of what the substance is, this is something that must be addressed.

“Now, the ruling in relation to that is that it can be admitted in relation to count two, which deals with attempts to pervert the course of justice,” stated Justice Daye.

This paved the way for Detective Constable Evans to be recalled to the stand, where he was shown five of the images on Tuesday. He was able to point out the drain pipe exiting the passageway of the cell block in front of cell number four, where Deane was beaten. The outlet of the pipe had what appeared to be a red liquid under it on the ground.

The case is expected to resume Wednesday at 11:00 am.

— Anthony Lewis