Court orders psych report in Mario Deane case for September 17

WESTERN BUREAU:

The St James Circuit Court has issued an order for the outstanding psychiatric report in the case of Marvin Orr and Adrian Morgan, the inmates charged with murder in relation to the 2014 death of Mario Deane, to be made ready by September 17.

Presiding High Court Justice Martin Gayle made the order and gave the new court date yesterday after Orr's lawyer, Trevor Ho Lyn, requested that the report indicate the defendants' mental condition at the time when Deane was allegedly beaten while they were all in police custody on August 3, 2014.

The alleged beating took place at the Barnett Street police lock-up in Montego Bay, where Deane was being held for possession of a ganja spliff.

"What I would want is if your lordship could make an order that the psychiatrist produces this report on or before September 17. The men were in custody for at least two months without receiving any treatment, and when they saw the doctor after the incident, they were deemed unfit to plea," said Ho Lyn.

Gayle replied: "We'll want to know what their state of mind was at the time of the alleged incident. I am making an order for the psychiatric report to be made available to the court and indicating whether the accused men were operating under any abnormality of mind at the time of the incident."

Psychiatric reports had been prepared that declared that Orr and Morgan, who are both mentally challenged, were fit to plea. However, under the Criminal Justice Administration Act, two sets of psychiatric reports are required for the defendants' fitness-to-plea hearing.

Another inmate, Damion Cargill, was previously charged alongside Orr and Morgan but was later released into his family's custody after being deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.