A detective sergeant, who is a witness in the ongoing trial of 25 members of the Tesha Miller faction of the Klansman gang, on Thursday denied suggestions by defence attorneys that he did not conduct a fair investigation into the April 2020 murder of William Christian, who was shot by men at premises on Henry Crescent in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

Miller, along with 24 others, are accused of committing numerous crimes, including murder and robbery, while he was the reputed head of a faction of the Spanish Town-based Klansman gang.

Attorneys representing the men accused of killing Christian — Lamar Rowe and Michael Wildman — tackled the detective sergeant about the quality of his investigation when the trial continued in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Sanjay Smith, who cross-examined the detective sergeant on behalf of Rowe, suggested that the cop submitted an incomplete case file in relation to the shooting death of Christian.

But the policeman disagreed. He also rejected the suggestion that the matter was not thoroughly investigated.

After Smith took his seat, fellow defence attorney Tamika Harris, who also represents Rowe, had questions about the fairness in the process of the investigation.

Responding to Harris’s question of whether he submitted a complete case file the detective sergeant responded, “Yes, ma’am.”

He also told the attorney that she was wrong to suggest that the investigation was unfairly conducted.

“It was conducted fairly, ma’am,” the detective sergeant said.

While pointing to a previous witness, who ended up being arrested after giving a statement in relation to the shooting death of Christian, Harris probed whether the detective sergeant was familiar with procedures surrounding legal arrest and detention.

The detective said that he was familiar with the procedures but after discussions with two other members of his team he saw it fit to detain the witness without charge.

He said that the witness was arrested by him and placed at the lock-up at Linstead Police Station as he was deemed a suspect. He admitted that he had no evidence against the witness in relation to the crime.

Harris insisted that the man was held in custody without charge longer than the 48 hours allowed by law. The detective told the court that he could not say how many hours the man was held in custody, but he was there from Saturday until Monday.

While he agreed that he had no evidence against the witness to trigger an arrest, he said the detention was not unlawful.

He said he conducted a question and answer session with the man on April 18, 2020 in relation to Christian’s murder.

However, Harris challenged the detective’s testimony, pointing out that his questions were never with respect to his participation in the murder of Christian.

The cop disagreed, insisting that he, in fact, asked questions about the witness’s involvement in the murder. He also disagreed that his has no regard for proper detention procedures.

“Your suggestion is wrong,” the detective said, adding that he is not in the habit of arresting people without evidence and that he has never been involved in any corruption in the police force and has never been accused of it.

Harris further questioned the detective about a statement he collected from a man in November 2020. Trying to hammer home her point that the case was inadequately investigated, Harris proceeded to ask the detective some questions about the man who gave that statement in November 2020.

The detective told Harris that he was aware that the man went on an identification parade as a witness but did not know that he was also a suspect.

The detective also said that he had no knowledge of the theft of a gold wedding band in relation to the case.

Paul Gentles, who represents Wildman, quizzed the detective on whether he collected any fingerprints or DNA evidence from the murder scene that were linked to his client.

The detective said he did not direct anyone to dust for fingerprints at the premises. He said that no DNA reports were ever handed to him and that he did not know whether any DNA evidence connects Wildman to the murder.

He told the court that ballistics evidence was collected but said there was no ballistic evidence linking Wildman to that murder in particular.

He said he arrested and charged Wildman without having any scientific evidence of his involvement.

The matter is being presided over by Justice Dale Palmer and is scheduled to continue on Monday.