SUPREME Court judge Justice Dale Palmer on Monday threatened contempt of court proceedings for any individual found to be making video recordings or taking photographs of any of the 25 accused in the ongoing trial of alleged members of the Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman gang.

The indication comes following additional complaints from the defence on Monday that several accused have, since the matter commenced in February at the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston, lodged complaints about officers assigned to the courts taking their photos and making videos whilst the hearing is in session.

The issue was first raised last Wednesday by defence attorney Tamika Harris who informed Justice Palmer that she “observed police officers at the court taking photographs and videos of the accused men as they left the precincts of the court in the [police] truck”.

At the time, the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in charge of security at the court, who was summoned by Justice Palmer to give an explanation, said that Harris’s account was “not the case”. He explained that the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s communications arm has been compiling a feature on the work of its Specialised Operations team at various locations where they are deployed. Justice Palmer, at the time, had requested that the material be submitted to him so he could scrutinise it.

On Monday, defence attorney Denise Hinson raised the matter again after it was disclosed that the footage had not yet been seen by the judge, saying, “While the court awaits the footage, this is an issue that has been raised by several accused before… several of the accused, certainly more than one of my clients, have been complaining that they have, in their view, observed persons who seem to be taking their photographs or videoing them.

“I was loath to raise it prior because I had not seen it myself and there was no sure way to determine whether persons were just holding their phone at an angle or that their photographs were in fact being taken, but it has been a recurring complaint since the start of the trial that several accused men were of the view that there were officers sitting here who they think, on more than one occasion, have taken their photographs and/or video recorded them,” Hinson stated.

Having issued a strong warning earlier on Monday, Justice Palmer repeated his caution, stating that he had contemplated enforcing a total prohibition on electronic devices during the proceedings.

“I suppose it bears repeating that the taking of images or making of video recordings in these proceedings of anyone, unless the court permits, is strictly prohibited. I was tempted to pronounce a blanket ban but I, even throughout this matter, observed persons using their cellphones, and they need to be responsible in the use of it,” Justice Palmer declared, noting that similar concerns regarding cellphone use had recently impacted a jury matter. He said while the instrument was being used innocently, at the time in question it was thought otherwise.

“I believe it was innocent, but because persons just see it being held up to your face — it really ought not to be — they think that things are happening that may be nefarious, are of concern to them, and so we have to be aware. These are officers of the court and they ought to know better if it is that it has occurred, even in innocence. There is nothing to support any contention that images or videos have been taken but it is strictly prohibited. It will attract contempt proceedings if it is that it is found to be done without the court’s permission,” Justice Palmer warned.

He, in the meantime, noted that the courts are not averse to the publication of proceedings but said protocol obtains.

“As we recently saw a few weekends ago, there are times when there are things that are broadcast with the court’s sanction, so I am not saying there is a blanket prohibition, but it is blanket outside of where the court permits it. If it is observed, it needs to be brought to the court’s attention and it will be addressed. I don’t think a blanket ban would assist us since quite a few counsel use their devices… but it having been raised by learned counsel, if it is that the issue arises again it needs to be brought to the court’s attention immediately… there is really very little I can do after the fact, but if it should happen it needs to be brought to the court’s attention urgently,” the trial judge stated.

Shortly after viewing the footage which was then provided, and after defence and prosecuting counsel approached the bench to conference further on the issue, Justice Palmer then indicated to the DSP in charge of court security that the attorneys had requested sight of the “meta data” outside of the clippings they had just then been made privy to.

Meta data, simply put, is data about data. That is, it provides details about data that is separate from the content of the data itself, such as information about the creator, creation date, or file size of a data set.

The DSP, in response, said he would “make contact” with the individuals who had custody of the material.

The matter, in the meantime, continued with the prosecution taking more evidence relating to the April 2020 murder of St Catherine resident William Christian, which is one of several on the 32-count indictment brought by the Crown in the ongoing trial of 25 suspected gangsters.

The accused, Lamar Rowe, is jointly charged with Michael Wildman, on count 19 of the indictment, with knowingly facilitating the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation — the murder of Christian on April 18, 2020. Count 20 also charges both men with facilitating the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation — wounding with intent of another man who was also present at the house the day of the killing.

The matter resumes at 10:00 this morning.