Judge in Mario Deane murder trial urges jurors to render verdict based on evidence
Published:Tuesday | May 20, 2025 | 2:48 PM
Presiding judge in the Mario Deane trial, Justice Courtney Daye, today began his summation of the case, urging the seven-member jury to focus on the facts during their deliberations regarding the three police personnel being tried for Deane's death in 2014.
Daye told the jurors that they must not allow personal sympathies and prejudices to be a factor in their deliberations concerning Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant, who have been before the Westmoreland Circuit Court for the past month in relation to Deane's death.
The judge told the jurors that their responsibility is to examine the evidence presented by prosecutors and that the verdicts they present for each defendant must be based on the evidence.
Daye also instructed the jurors that they must consider the credibility of the witnesses who have given evidence, including an inmate who testified that the defendants abused Deane on August 3, 2014, the day Deane was beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street Police Station lock-up in St James for possession of a ganja spliff.
Regarding that particular witness, Daye advised the jury that they have the responsibility to carefully analyse his evidence, including inconsistencies that the defendants' lawyers have accused him of presenting.
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are on trial for manslaughter and misconduct in a public office in relation to Deane's death on August 6, 2014, three days after he was beaten while in custody at the Barnett Street lock-up.
Stewart is also charged with perverting the course of justice, where she allegedly ordered Deane’s cell to be cleaned before the arrival of investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations.
- Christopher Thomas
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