Accused Clansman member fires finger gun at witness cop

A startling incident outside the courtroom brought renewed tension to the ongoing anti-gang trial involving reputed Clansman gang leader Tesha Miller and 24 other accused yesterday, shortly after the matter was adjourned on day one at the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston.

Just moments after the proceedings ended, one of the accused men, who was handcuffed on one arm, used the other hand in a gun gesture to ‘buss a blank’, a Jamaican colloquialism for mimicking the firing of a gun. The accused positioned his finger like a firearm in the direction of the prosecution’s first witness, a detective corporal, and made the loud sound of an explosion with his mouth.

The gesture, which unfolded outside the door of the main courtroom, left members of the prosecution team, defence attorneys, and police personnel visibly stunned.

The detective corporal, who smiled, was later heard questioning aloud whether the act should be interpreted as a “threat”.

The incident came on the same day the presiding judge ordered that the names, addresses, and likenesses of all prosecution witnesses must not be published, underscoring the sensitive and high-risk nature of the proceedings.

The detective corporal, who is assigned to the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime (C-TOC) branch, is bound over to resume his testimony when the trial continues this morning, heightening anticipation surrounding the already closely watched case.

The detective corporal, the first of approximately 100 witnesses to be called by the prosecution, took the stand shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

His brief testimony focused on a police operation conducted on March 5, 2023 at 56 North Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

As he took the stand in full view of the court, several of the accused men, including Miller, the reputed gang leader, were observed conversing among themselves in the prisoners’ dock.

During examination-in-chief, the witness was asked by the prosecution to identify individuals he saw during the March 5 operation.

He identified one of the accused in court, B’jorn Thomas, and was subsequently shown a photograph of another accused man.

Defence attorneys earlier objected to the introduction of the photograph, arguing that the prosecution had failed to lay the necessary foundation for its admissibility.

However, Justice Dale Palmer, who is the sole trial adjudicator, overruled the objection and allowed the photograph to be shown.

The detective corporal also testified about encountering two of the accused men - Thomas and Andre McFarland, otherwise called ‘Globe’ or ‘Ripper’ - on the day of the operation about “minutes to 11[a.m.]”, on a “bright, sunny day”.

The prosecution’s case centres on allegations that 16 criminal incidents occurred over a five-year period between August 2017 and November 2022, forming the basis of a 32-count indictment that was read to the accused when they were arraigned yesterday morning.

All 25 accused men pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include murder, robbery with aggravation, shooting with intent, conspiracy to murder, wounding with intent, and being part of a criminal organisation.

The incidents reportedly took place across several parishes to include St Catherine, St Andrew, St Mary and Clarendon.

Tesha Miller pleaded not guilty to charges, including being the leader of a criminal organisation, and medical doctor Paul Robinson, who is the sole person on bail, also pleaded not guilty to knowingly providing medical treatment to McFarlane.

In total, Tesha Miller is named in approximately 13 of the 32 counts on the indictment.

During earlier submissions, the prosecution pointed out that several of the alleged offences were committed while Tesha Miller was already incarcerated and serving a 38-year sentence for engineering the 2008 murder of former Jamaica Urban Transit Company Chairman Douglas Chambers.

The lead prosecutor, in painting a picture of the sophistication of the gang, said while Tesha Miller was incarcerated, Kirk Forrester and Kemar Miller exerted influence over the gang within the territories.

Citing that “the devil is in the details”, the Crown indicated that its case would rely heavily on two key witnesses who are both former members of the Clansman gang and who are now murder convicts serving sentences of imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, reliance on the testimony of former associates or acquaintances of criminal organisations is common worldwide, and in many cases, convictions would be impossible without such evidence.

The lead prosecutor told the court that the vast majority of the 16 incidents forming the indictment were virtually unsolved before the two witnesses agreed to cooperate with the Crown.

In one instance, the prosecutor said, no charges had been laid for nearly eight years until the witness came forward and agreed to give evidence.

The prosecutor urged the court not to reject the testimony of the witnesses solely because of their criminal backgrounds or former gang affiliations, stressing that their evidence should be assessed based on credibility, motivation, and timing.

The prosecutor further noted that both witnesses only began assisting the Crown after they had already been sentenced, arguing that this diminished any suggestion that their cooperation was motivated by leniency.

The Crown further maintains that the accused men played different but interconnected roles within the Clansman gang, knowingly participated in the alleged offences, and that all the incidents are linked as part of a coordinated criminal enterprise.

The trial continues today.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com