March 3 trial for cops charged for death of Mario Deane

The three cops facing multiple charges in relation to the 2014 death of Mario Deane are scheduled to go on trial in the Westmoreland Circuit Court on March 3, with a case management hearing to take place prior to that on February 21.

Presiding High Court Justice Courtney Daye set the case management hearing date and extended the bail of the defendants when they made their first appearance in the Westmoreland Circuit Court today.

"Before we reach the trial date, I am requesting a date for case management to ensure that everything is in place for trial on March 3," Daye said while addressing the sitting, after being told that the trial date had already been agreed upon by all the attorneys.

Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant are charged with manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice, arising from allegations that they were on duty at the Barnett Street police pick-up in Montego Bay, St James when Deane – a 31-year-old man arrested earlier that day for possession of a small amount of ganja – was reportedly beaten while in custody at the facility on August 3, 2014.

Following the alleged incident, Deane was admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in an unresponsive state and died three days later.

It is also alleged that Stewart, the senior officer on duty, ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived.

The case against the three cops was previously listed before the St James Circuit Court.

It was transferred to the Westmoreland Circuit Court following an order by High Court Justice Bertram Morrison, when the matter was last heard in St James on November 15, 2024.

The venue was changed due to difficulties in empanelling jurors in St James for the matter to be tried.

- Christopher Thomas

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