Subpoena issued for medical records in Mario Deane case

WESTERN BUREAU:

The St James Circuit Court yesterday issued a subpoena for the medical records of Adrian Morgan, one of the two inmates charged with murder in relation to the 2014 death of Mario Deane. The medical record is with regard to his psychiatric treatment at the Whitehouse Health Centre in Westmoreland.

Presiding High Court Justice Sharon George made the order for the subpoena in response to a request from Morgan's attorney, Franklin Haliburton, when the case against Morgan and his co-defendant, Marvin Orr, was mentioned yesterday.

"Mr Morgan was being seen (treated) at the Whitehouse Health Centre, and we've been trying to get the information from that facility," said Haliburton. "May I ask the court's assistance to subpoena the records for Morgan from the Whitehouse Health Centre? If a doctor is going to make an assessment, it is prudent for the doctor to have records of past treatment."

"A subpoena is issued for the medical records from the Whitehouse medical facility in Westmoreland," George replied.

Haliburton also told the court that over the duration of the case, there had been several evaluations of Orr and Morgan, with contradicting results concerning their fitness to answer to the charges.

The case was subsequently set for mention on October 9, at which time the doctors who submitted psychiatric evaluations for the defendants are expected to attend court to explain their findings.

A subpoena was issued for the doctors when the case was last mentioned in the circuit court on September 17; however, they were not in attendance yesterday as had been expected.

Allegations are that on August 3, 2014, Deane was beaten into a coma while he was in custody at the Barnett Street police lock-up in Montego Bay for possession of a ganja spliff. Deane, who was 31 years old, died in hospital three days later.

Orr and Morgan, who were also being held in custody at Barnett Street, were subsequently arrested and charged along with a third inmate, Damion Cargill. Last July, Cargill was judged as being unfit to answer to the charges or to stand trial and was released by the court into his family's custody.