‘I wasn’t preparing for a case’

Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green told the Home Circuit Court on Thursday that he was not anticipating giving evidence when he wrote an anonymous letter to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) following the fatal 2013 police shooting along Acadia Drive in St Andrew.

Green made the admission under cross-examination by defence attorney Hugh Wildman after stating that he could not recall how the anonymous letter was delivered or whether it had been sent by a bearer.

The witness, who has been under intense cross-examination for four days, told the court that after witnessing the shooting, he and his significant other, who was also present and observed part of the incident, discussed whether they should get involved.

When questioned by Wildman on whether recalling how the letter was delivered would have been important, Green replied, “I wasn’t preparing for a case.”

Green explained that his intention was simply to report what he had seen.

“In telling the people what I saw so that they could do their work based on what I saw. I would not have known to remember who took the letter and exactly when it was dropped off,” he said.

“So you are telling this court and jury that you, being a witness, weren’t preparing for a case?” Wildman asked.

“I said it,” Green responded, later adding, “If no one had reached out to us, mi never did a go run it down.”

Wildman then questioned why Green sent the letter if he was not expecting a case.

“Because I am not going to police to talk to police about what police do. Dat nuh mek nuh sense,” Green answered sharply.

According to Green, the letter contained no identifying information, including a telephone number or return address. He said he was surprised when INDECOM later contacted him to ask whether he was the author, but he could not recall who from the commission made the initial contact.

The defence attorney also questioned whether Green had discussed the letter with anyone before investigators reached out to him. Green said he could not recall speaking to anyone about it.

Wildman further pressed Green on his interactions with INDECOM investigator Warren Williams, repeatedly asking whether he had any discussions with him before coming to court.

Green said he did not remember having any such interaction and maintained that Williams formally introduced himself when Green attended court to give evidence.

“I don’t remember having a face-to-face conversation with him before,” Green said, adding that while someone may have contacted him about court dates, he could not say with certainty who that was.

The minister also told the court that he did not know the family of Matthew Lee, one of the men killed in the incident, and said he had never interacted with Lee’s mother.

“I didn’t know Matthew Lee. I don’t know his father. I’ve never heard of them,” Green testified.

Meanwhile, Green rejected suggestions that he failed to tell Warren or other INDECOM officers that he had seen a Kingfish police vehicle pulling up at the scene, where five officers were already present, and that a man had exited the vehicle and fired at one of the men who was on the ground.

He insisted that the information was included in both his statement and the anonymous letter and maintained his position even after being shown a document by Wildman.

Green also denied making any call to INDECOM’s landline on the day of the incident and said he did not recall his partner making any such call. He further stated that he did not recall placing a call to Williams.

He maintained that the shooting lasted about five minutes and said he remained at his window until it ended. He told the court that his partner later joined him but could not say at what point or for how long.

Green also testified that his partner was crying during the incident and was very deeply disturbed.

Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, and Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose, and Richard Lynch are on trial for the January 12, 2013, fatal shooting of Matthew Lee, Mark Allen, and Ucliffe Dyer along Acadia Road, St Andrew.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com