Don't identify witnesses in Kartel juror case - RM tells media
Published:Thursday | March 26, 2015 | 12:00 AM
Another witness has given evidence that Livingston Cain, the juror accused of trying to bribe some of his peers in the Vybz Kartel murder case, mostly kept to himself and said very little during the five-month trial.
"Most of the time when we finish (for the day) or get a break, Mr Cain never came inside the jury room. He stayed outside," the witness told the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.
He testified that at one point, a police officer had to order Cain back into the jury room.
"Most of the time, he didn't even say anything," he testified.
However, the witness said in the last two weeks of the trial, Cain began indicating why he formed the view that Kartel and his co-accused were not guilty.
Resident Magistrate Maxine Ellis, who is presiding over Cain's corruption trial, yesterday issued an order barring the media from publishing information that could identify the witness and those remaining.
"There are some concerns that I have to take into consideration," Ellis said, while making it clear that her intention was not to interfere with the freedom of the press.
"This court is hereby ordering that there should be no publication of the identity of the remaining witnesses. Identity meaning name, address and place of employment ... anything that will allow people to identify them," the magistrate explained.
The witness recalled an encounter with Cain along King Street, in downtown Kingston, just weeks into the trial.
"We happened to meet up while we were going up the road (King Street), and began speaking about what (had) happened inside," he testified.
"Mr Cain indicated to me that we can't find these guys guilty because they are persons in the entertainment industry and they have families," he recalled.
The witness said he indicated to Cain that he, too, had not seen anything from prosecutors to find Kartel and his co-accused guilty.
The trial has been adjourned until April 28.