Witness maintains that cop was involved in death of Mario Deane
Published:Wednesday | April 23, 2025 | 12:34 PM
The former inmate of the St James-based Barnett Street Police Station lock-up, where Mario Deane was beaten on August 3, 2014, today maintained that he was not lying about the involvement of one of the cops now on trial for Deane's death.
During his continued cross-examination by attorney Dalton Reid, who is part of the defence team for Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, the witness repeated his previous evidence before the Westmoreland Circuit Court that Clevon came to him after the incident and told him not to speak of what had happened.
He upheld his testimony despite suggestions from Reid that Clevon left in the ambulance that took Deane to the hospital after he was beaten.
The witness was also shown images on a laptop depicting the entrance to the cell block.
He rejected a suggestion that he could not see the station’s reception area from his cell, standing by his previous testimony that he could see the reception area through the grille of his cell.
Under re-examination by the prosecution, the witness said he was pressured by the police into giving a statement about what had happened.
He also maintained ignorance of certain statements attributed to him in a statement he gave to the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).
The trial continues today.
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, arising from Deane's death on August 6, 2014, three days after he was beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street lock-up for possession of a ganja spliff.
Stewart is also charged with perverting the course of justice, under allegations that she ordered the cleaning of the cell where Deane was beaten, prior to the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.
- Christopher Thomas
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