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Judge rules cops have case to answer

Published:Thursday | June 6, 2019 | 12:23 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer

Following the ruling by trial judge Marcia Dunbar Green that Detective Corporal Kevin Adams and Constable Jerome Whyte had a case to answer, the cops delivered unsworn statements after which attorneys began presenting closing arguments as the trial nears its end.

The cops are accused of murdering Anthony ‘Toby’ Trought in cold blood on February 13, 2013, in front of his home on 1st Street in Terrier Town, Race Track, Clarendon.

In her closing arguments, attorney-at-law Queen’s Counsel Caroline Hay said: “There are strong personalities … . Don’t let it distract your focus on the evidence.”

Commenting on the unsworn statements made by the accused, Hay said that the men are saying that they were there – they fired and killed Trought.

“If you boil it down, it is only one issue: Did Mr Trought fire at them?” Hay said.

She told the jury to bear in mind that police personnel are not more important than other citizens and have no right to threaten citizens.

“When you analyse it, this is not a case of self-defence. This is hunt, shoot, and kill.”

But defence attorney Queen’s Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson emphasised that the prosecution has the burden of truth to prove its case.

“If you look at the prosecution’s case and you are not convinced, the verdict is not guilty. If you look at the defence’s case and you don’t believe a word, the verdict is still not guilty. The burden is on the prosecution,”she said.

Neita-Robertson added that the suggestion that the gun had been planted should not cause them to form a prejudice against her client, who she described as a good cop.

“Just look at the evidence. If there is anything that creates a doubt in your mind, you can’t rely on that, you can’t rely on that,” she said.

Earlier in the proceedings, the cops delivered unsworn statements in which they insisted that they had acted in self-defence.

nickoy.wilson@gleanerjm.com