Third cop in Kirkland Heights case to be charged or released Friday
A third cop said to be involved in the extortion/murder case of Phillip Wallace is to be released or charged on Friday, the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court has ordered.
Two other cops, Corporl Miguel Ebanks and Constable Purcell Carter, have already been charged with murder and other related offences in relation to the fatal shooting of Wallace at East Kirkland Heights, St Andrew, on Saturday, July 16, 2022.
The charges, according to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), were as a result of an investigation by the agency, with support from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and a ruling by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
But following a Habeaus Corpus application made by the third cop’s lawyers, Peter Champagnie and Richard Lynch, the parish court judge ordered that the third cop be charged or released Friday by 4:00 pm.
This was due to the fact that the cop has spent a substantial time in custody and the witness has failed to attend the identification parade on more than one occasion without any explanation.
The cop’s attorneys pressed for the court’s intervention, citing what they said was the poor manner in which the investigation was being treated especially in light of the cop’s surrender to custody and intention to cooperate.
The judge in granting the order indicated that he will give INDECOM one last opportunity to get its affairs in order.
The third cop was alleged to have fled the Island on the day of the shooting.