THURSDAY’S ruling by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes which sprung four of the 33 individuals on trial since last September for crimes allegedly committed by the St Catherine-based Klansman Gang, was met with broad smirks and muted applause from several of the remaining 29 accused.

The four — Damaine Elliston, Rushane Williams, Rivaldo Hylton and Owen Ormsby — were ordered released by the trial judge after the Crown revealed that, having perused the notes of evidence “another time”, it found “that there is insufficient evidence against” the four who, along with the remaining accused, had been charged with breaches of the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) (Amendment) Act, commonly called the anti-gang legislation, and the Firearms Act.

The men had all been charged for being part of a criminal organisation, which is count two on the 25-count indictment. Additionally, Elliston and Ormsby had been charged for facilitating the commission of offences by a criminal organisation by allegedly conspiring to murder an individual in 2015 known as Wee Wee, which is count four on the indictment.

Hylton and Williams had also been standing trial for being party to a conspiracy to murder two unnamed individuals in 2017 — count five on the indictment — while Hylton had been charged for arson on count nine in relation to a 2017 incident in New Nursery in the parish.

Elliston was also facing charges for a November 2017 murder at a tyre shop in the parish, which is count ten on the indictment.

Ormsby had also been fingered in a 2017 murder in Lauriston of an individual known as Outlaw.

However, following the indications by prosecutors, the trial judge, addressing the men individually, informed them that the charges had been dropped and they were “free to go” unless the police had other lawful reasons for detaining them further.

The Jamaica Observer subsequently learnt that only two of the four were being processed for release as the other two would remain behind bars because they were facing charges in another matter.

In the meantime, prosecutors, in outlining where the Crown’s case stood against the remaining 29, on Thursday said they did not have sufficient evidence against the accused Jahzeel Blake, Tomrick Taylor, and Donovan Richards in respect of the August 2017 murder at Price Rite, St Andrew, of an individual known as Doolie outside the supermarket where he worked. The Crown, however, said alleged leader of the gang, Andre “Blackman” Bryan, “remains on that count”.

The Crown, in the meanwhile, was forced to concede that it had no case against the accused Michael Whitely and the sole female defendant Stephanie Christie in respect of count 13 — conspiring to murder a bus driver in Spanish Town in 2017. Prosecutors further conceded that they had no case against Whitely and his co-accused Chevroy Evans and Brian Morris for that murder.

Prosecutors also said they had no evidence against the accused Jahzeel Blake, who was charged along with three others for the murder of a Rastaman on Jones Avenue in 2018.

The Crown further conceded that that offence had not been “made out for the six persons named in the count”, number 15 on the indictment.

Further concessions were made in relation to count 17 in respect of the accused Ricardo Thomas regarding the 2018 murder of a man known as “Tesha bus driver” in Spanish Town.

Prosecutors further abandoned their case in respect of count 18 relating to the murder of a Rastaman at the LOJ Plaza in Spanish Town in 2016, saying no evidence was led relating to this offence. It further said there was insufficient evidence against the accused Lamar Simpson in relation to a 2018 murder at a hardware store in St Catherine.

On the final count on the indictment prosecutors said they would not be pursuing their case against the accused Jahzeel Blake and Andre Golding, who were charged along with four others for the 2018 murder of an individual called Ice.

Following those revelations by the Crown 10 defence attorneys made the first set of no-case submissions on behalf of their clients. The attorneys, for the most part, argued that the Crown had failed to prove its case against their clients beyond a reasonable doubt, arguing that the evidence presented was, at best, “tenuous”.

They also threw barbs at the credibility of the Crown’s two main witnesses, who were former gang members-turned-informants, arguing that both men had an interest to serve in handing their former cronies over to the authorities. The attorneys further urged the trial judge to rule that their clients had no case to answer, charging that the Crown had even failed to adduce sufficient evidence to prove that a criminal organisation (Klansman Gang) even existed, based on the requirements of the anti-gang legislation.

Prosecutors, opening their case on September 20 last year, had alleged that the accused carried out a range of murders, conspiracies to murder, and extortion and arson throughout the parish between 2015 and 2019.

They said the gang’s headquarters at Jones Avenue in Spanish Town was used by gang members for planning their exploits and was also where briefing and debriefing in respect of crimes took place. The court had also heard that this was where transactions such as the sale and purchase of guns to carry out murders were conducted.

Several members of the gang, in their roles as “foot soldiers”, the court was told, were responsible for ensuring that murders ordered were executed and that extortion monies were collected.

The no-case submissions will continue on Monday when the matter resumes in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston at 10:00 am.