The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) on Thursday denied that attorneys are being prevented from taking personal cellphones and other devices in prisons when visiting their clients to take instructions from them.

The DCS issued the denial in a news release after a number of attorneys complained on Wednesday in the Home Circuit Court in Kingston during what was to be the first day of trial for Tesha Miller and 24 others who have been charged under the anti-gang legislation for offences including murder and robbery.

Miller is accused of leading one of two factions of the Spanish Town, St Catherine-based Clansman gang.

The trial failed to get underway on Wednesday as prosecutors begged trial Judge Dale Palmer for between 12 and 14 additional weeks to serve documents and tighten certain loose ends relating to the case.

But Justice Palmer indicated that he intends to press on with the matter and subsequently ordered that a representative of the DCS and another entity appear in court on Friday to give an update on the status of the rule. He denied the prosecution’s application for an adjournment until June.

Among those ordered to attend court on Friday is the Commissioner of Corrections Brigadier Radgh Mason.

Attorneys argued on Wednesday that the rule goes against the push towards digitisation and using less paper.

Among the attorneys most vocal on the issue in court was John Clarke, who represents Miller.

“There was a concern I had raised in a letter to the Crown on the 11th of April 2024 as it relates to how it is that, in the age of electronic disclosure, that persons who are in custody, their lawyers are not permitted to carry their electronic devices into the prison and you have electronic material presented to them for the taking up of appropriate instructions,” Clarke said.

He argued that another judge “was kind enough to indicate that some letters were sent by the court’s registry to assist counsel in having these electronic material presented to the accused person. When I last checked with the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre on Friday, a superintendent indicated to me that that letter had not reached them and up to that point we would not be permitted to carry our electronic device to Tower Street,” Clarke told Judge Palmer.

He added that last Saturday, during a visit to Horizon Adult Remand Centre, he was not permitted to take electronic devices into the facility. Clarke said he was told at Horizon that whilst medical officers could be trusted to carry cellphones into the facilities, the same trust does not apply to attorneys.

“A previous indictment had two counts. This new indictment has 30 counts. My client was previously indicted on one count, and as I speak today he’s indicted on 32 counts. Under these circumstances I am a bit concerned about my client’s right as the person charged with the offence,” Clarke said.

Attorney Tameka Harris, who is representing one of Miller’s co-accused in the matter, was peeved by the same issue and had a lot to tell the judge as she aired her disgruntlement.

“The issue also, my lord, of not being able to take our devices in the prisons, it has been raised at several stakeholder meetings. I have met and spoken to Brigadier Mason in relation to this issue. He has given undertaking that it would be dealt with and that formal order and letters would be written to the institutions so that we would be able to take our devices in facilities.

“I am very, very surprised that after all these talks and back and forth communication that we are at the same place. I am asking this court to make a firm order dealing with the matter with some finality so that we are not here again raising these very same issues concerning being able to take proper instructions. The clients must be fully aware of the extent of the evidence against them. If it is a video, we cannot re-enact the video, as talented as I am thinking myself to be. In relation to audio, I cannot sit down and write a transcript. Even if I do, the tonality will not be transcribed adequately to the accused person and so it must be dealt with [with] some finality my lord,” Harris said.

She told Judge Palmer that the Crown’s application for adjournment has serious implications for the entire case management system in the Home Circuit Court.

“This matter has been before the case management Court on several occasions for two years. I came into this matter from January 25, 2024, and we are now in 2026. It should not be that a trial date was already set for today, and this is the time when the Crown is realising what is outstanding. It should not be. It has merely reflected that we wasted two years,” added Harris.

However, in its response, the DCS said it does not inhibit or restrict inmates’ constitutional and inalienable right to legal representation.

“This position was affirmed during discussions with the Jamaica Bar Association (JBA) on February 14, 2025 and further outlined in a letter from the Commissioner of Corrections Brigadier (Ret’d) Radgh Mason to the JBA dated March 19, 2025,” the DCS said and provided what it said were excerpts from the correspondence.

A section of the correspondence states: “In keeping with the legislation, all efforts will be extended to facilitate the interviewing of inmates by their legal adviser(s), this is inclusive of consultations via virtual platforms, the establishment of a conducive space for these interactions and the admittance of laptops/tablet devices to access documents electronically disclosed providing that it is safe, reasonable, justified and practicable to do so.”

The DCS also said that, “Any alleged violation of an inmate’s rights should be formally reported. Once received, such complaints are treated seriously and investigated in accordance with due process and the applicable legal and institutional frameworks.”

On Wednesday, after a one-hour lunch break, Justice Palmer, who was adamant that the trial must go on, indicated that on Friday he would determine how much time was appropriate to allow the prosecution and defence attorneys to be ready for the start of the trial.

“An adjournment to June is definitely not on the table, and so the Crown is going to need to ready itself,” the judge said, noting that the matter has been before the court for some time and the Crown has had the benefit of two senior prosecutors. He outlined that significant resources, “including time, court resources, and counsel resources, as well as the setting aside of court time, means that the defendants would be denied the opportunity to have their day in court for months, or possibly up to a year”.

In this file photo defence attorney John Clarke speaks with journalists outside the Supreme Court building in downtown Kingston.

MASON… ordered to attend court on Friday