SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Supreme Court Judge Justice Courtney Daye on Wednesday denied an application by the defence in the Mario Deane trial for a visit to the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up where Deane was fatally beaten in 2014.

The request came after the Crown rested its case in the trial of three cops: Corporal Elaine Stewart and district constables Marlon Grant and Juliana Clevon. They are all before the Westmoreland Circuit Court answering charges of manslaughter and misconduct in a public office.

Defence lawyer Martyn Thomas, who is representing Stewart and Grant, advised Justice Daye that the defence was making a written application for the visit as part of its preparation to mount a defence.

However, Justice Daye argued that the application should have an accompanying affidavit.

“There is no evidence to support the application, which is a weak application,” the judge stated.

Regarding the need to visit the scene, Justice Daye pointed out that photos and videos taken by Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) investigators had captured the scene.

Justice Daye also noted that while there may be concern about the credibility of one of the Crown’s witnesses — an inmate who gave a chilling account of Deane’s beating and the reaction of the cops — this is something on which the jury would decide.

“I do not see the basis to visit the locus of the Barnett Street lock-up,” stated Justice Daye.

Also on Wednesday, attorney Dalton Reid, who is representing Clevon, requested that the former senior investigator from Indecom, Mollie Plummer, be made available again with her notes.

On Tuesday, the investigator struggled to recall several details, including accounts of statements she had taken from witnesses. She was accused of not reviewing her notes or a copy of the file prior to giving evidence in the case.

In his ruling regarding recalling Plummer, Justice Daye noted that such an application is dependent on her availability.

The defence was granted an adjournment of the case until Thursday at 9:00 am when it is expected to make a submission to the court or a brief summary of its case.

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.