TWO former members of the Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman gang, 25 members of which are now on trial, have helped cops crack the majority of the 16 crimes which had remained “unsolved” for some seven to eight years, for which their former cronies are now on trial.

A senior prosecutor (name withheld), in delivering the opening address following the arraignment of the 25 on Wednesday morning on a 32-count indictment, said the two ex-gangsters turned star witnesses pleaded guilty to varying offences including murder, and are currently serving their sentences.

Wednesday morning, as the arraignment of the alleged Klansman boss Tesha Miller and his 24 co-accused got underway in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, all 25 pleaded “not guilty” to all counts with which they have been charged, including the second count of the indictment on which they are all charged for the offence of being part of a criminal organisation.

Miller pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts of the 32-count indictment where he is charged. Count one charges him with being the leader of a criminal organisation — he is the only accused on that charge.

The men, during the trial, will answer to charges including multiple murders, conspiracy to murder, wounding with intent and robbery with aggravation and attempted robbery.

The senior prosecutor, in urging presiding judge Justice Dale Palmer to accept the evidence of the two, said “until these primary two witnesses were found, or assisted the Crown, the large majority of these 16 incidents were unsolved cases with no suspects”.

Justice Palmer is sitting alone, without a jury.

“The significance of these principal witnesses is underscored by their own involvement in these previously unsolved cases. In short, until the police became aware of these witnesses, there were no charged suspects in some of these cases for as long as seven to eight years. With these types of accomplice witnesses it is important for your lordship to consider credibility not only of these cases overall, but the credibility of the witnesses’ account,” he stated.

Noting that “the Crown readily acknowledges that the credibility of these two primary witnesses will be the single most important thing the judge has to resolve during this case”, he said, “their evidence must be appreciated and approached with the appropriate degree of caution”.

“I invite your lordship not to reject the evidence merely because of the status of these accomplices; assess the extent to which their accounts are supported by the independent material. Secondly, look at the consistency of their accounts and the details, the devil is in the details of this case,” the lead prosecutor stated, adding that their motivation to give the evidence must also be weighed.

“The two primary witnesses in this case have already been sentenced prior to the commencement of this trial. Their evidence involves admissions against their own interest and they do not seek to minimise their culpability. I ask your lordship to pay close attention to at what point these witnesses began to assist the Crown because that will give an indication as to their motives. This is a case which calls for careful, methodical assessment of a large volume of evidence, we ask that your lordship approaches, carefully, cautiously and without haste,” he stated.

”The Crown does not seek to disguise their criminal antecedents as their past is important, their past presents the conduct of those individuals and we present it in the context of the overall case. Successful prosecutions of organised criminal activities the world over frequently rely on accomplice evidence because criminal enterprises are structured and operate not only to shield the main members, but their activities, making it nearly impossible to build cases without the assistance and cooperation of accomplice witnesses”.

The accused are to answer to 16 offences allegedly committed over the span of five years between August 2017 and November 2022, according to the case being built by the Crown.

The prosecution, in unveiling the anatomy of the gang, said it had splintered due to the fact that Miller is currently serving 38 years at hard labour for engineering the 2008 murder of former Jamaica Urban Transit Company Chairman Douglas Chambers, but was still very much in operation.

“The Crown’s case is that between August 2017 and November of 2022, this particular criminal organisation was decentralised, and though it coalesced around the primary leader, the nature of the organisation could also be viewed as somewhat loose and this is so because the Crown’s case is that for a period of time between these five years, the primary leader was in custody. Consequently, the Crown’s case is that there are other members of this criminal organisation such as, for example, Kirk Forrester and Kemar Miller, who the Crown is saying played or exerted influence or control over different communities within the territory of this organisation.“

The Crown said it would be leading evidence to show that other players or members acted as drivers, among them the accused, Bjourn Thomas, Dwayne Frater, Travis Drummond and Kemar Francis; and by employment and by role in the criminal organisation, Charles McLeary.

The Crown will also lead evidence that aside from the drivers, the persons who exerted leadership, there were the “workhorses”, who they have titled “shooters or soldiers” and these included persons such as the accused Rolando Hall, Sharn Gilzene, Lamar Rowe, Jermaine Clarke, Carlos Williams, Owen Billings, Ramone Stewart, Kimali Wynter, Ronaldo Spence, Conroy Cadogan, Kemar Miller, Nadahun Guest and Michael Wildman.

“It is our view as well, and the evidence that we will lead that there are other persons, other roles such as other persons who provided a benefit to the gang… and in that regard Mr Paul Robinson (medical doctor) is before the court as the Crown’s case is that on at least one occasion he provided certain benefits to this criminal organisation,” he said further.

He said the accused, Shawn Pottinger, Ryan Harrison and Geovaughni McDonald, are considered “casual, daily paid employees or temporary workers…”

“There are some persons we consider associate members. It is the Crown’s case that on several occasions members of this organisation or their associates operated on their own volition and primarily for their own benefit, the structure of the organisation allowed for this, and it allowed for members to seek assistance from other members or associates and allowed for associates to seek assistance from primary members of the gang. Of note, the nature of these activities, whether planned by the associates or the members, have a common thread, including the use of violence, the use of firearms for individual and collective monetary benefit,” the court was told.

Wednesday, a rotund Miller clad in signature all-white garb and customary gold and diamond stud earrings, his stubby hair arranged in tiny twists, sat in the docks beside the accused Bjourn Thomas, Rolando Hall, Kirk Forrester and others. During the prosecutor’s address, the accused men paid rapt attention with Miller at one point observed leaning forward, his elbows resting in the wooden slats of the dock, one cheek resting on his left hand.

The matter resumes at 10:00 am on Thursday when a police witness, who was the first to take the stand, will continue his testimony.