Defence challenges video evidence in Kamoza Clarke case
Published:Friday | February 22, 2019 | 12:00 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
Video evidence being used in the case against the three policemen charged in relation to the death of Trelawny resident Kamoza Clarke was challenged by the defence regarding its chain of custody when the case was heard in the Trelawny Circuit Court yesterday.
The three policemen, Sergeant Derrick Henry and district constables Onecko Brown and Alwayne Eccleston, who are charged with manslaughter, will know on March 12, when the matter goes back before the court, whether or not the video evidence will be used in the case against them.
Yesterday, Henry’s lawyer, attorney Linton Gordon, told presiding High Court Justice Sharon George that the defence had concerns about the reliability of the video evidence, which the prosecution intends to rely on during the policemen’s upcoming trial. The three men had their bails extended until the date in question.
“Fundamental to the Crown’s case is a video that somebody was beaten at the cell and that it was not justified. There might be a lack of continuity on the tape, though I do not want to say it has been doctored (tampered with),” Gordon said during yesterday’s court sitting.
CAUSE OF DEATH
Additionally, Gordon noted that there were discrepancies about the cause of Clarke’s death, which must also be addressed ahead of the trial.
“There is a dispute regarding the cause of death, as there’s a note from the doctor that will raise questions. Death was attributed to multiple bedsores and intracranial bleeding, and the doctor is saying something ought to have been done that was not done,” said Gordon.
The prosecution plans to call 15 witnesses, five in relation to the evidence’s chain of custody, once the trial begins.
Kamoza Clarke, who was 31 at the time of his death, was mentally challenged. He was reportedly beaten into a vegetative state on October 20, 2013, while in custody at the Falmouth police lock-up in Trelawny. He died four months later at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay. He had never regained consciousness in hospital.
Clarke’s death triggered outrage from several human-rights groups, including Amnesty International and Families Against State Terrorism.
Henry, Brown, and Eccleston were initially charged with murder, but the charges were subsequently downgraded to manslaughter. Two other policemen, district constables Desmond Lawrence and Tristan Turner, were charged with neglect of duty in relation to the incident.