Clansman Gang Trial | Witness acknowledges inconsistencies
Published:Friday | November 12, 2021 | 12:11 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A former top lieutenant of the One Don Gang yesterday admitted that he did not mention the reputed leader's brother and another defendant in any of his multiple statements to the police despite testifying in court that they were members of the gang.
The second prosecution witness, while being cross-examined by lawyers for the two defendants yesterday in the Home Circuit Court, acknowledged that he did not tell the police anything about Kevaugn Green, brother of the alleged gang leader Andre 'Blackman' Bryan, and defendant Damaine Elliston, who he identified as 'Dumpkins', in any of his more than six statements, including the first, which was about 60 pages long.
But the ex-gangster, while also admitting that he did not know much about Elliston and had not seen him committing any criminal acts, maintained that they were both members of the gang.
Before the witness made the admissions, attorney-at-law Shannon Clarke, who is representing Green, questioned his claims about her client being a top-tier member of the gang and about him seeing Green once near the gang's headquarters on Jones Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine, dressed in a camouflage bulletproof vest.
“So you come here fi lie pon Kevaugn Green? That's what you doing, don't it?“ Clarke asked him.
“I'm not telling no lie,” he quickly replied.
She then asked him how long he had taken to record his first statement and whether it was 60 pages long, to which he replied that he could not recall the length but said that it had taken more than a month.
When she reminded him that he had made absolutely no mention of her client, the witness mumbled that he was not finished and that he had told the police about several other alleged members of the gang who were not before the court.
Test-firing a new AK-47
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes asked the witness if he did not think it was vital to tell the police about Green, given that he would have been an important member, who had been giving orders given his position.
But the witness said, “I have never seen him giving an order.”
However, he recalled seeing Green at nights “bleaching” with other members of the gang and test-firing a new AK-47 gun that the gang had just bought.
“When the gang is making moves, he is there,” the witness said.
However, he told the court that “Blackman don't want him in too deep same like Rel”, referring to defendant Roel Taylor.
Similarly, the witness admitted that he had only told the court about that Elliston.
“I don't mention him in any of the statements,” he conceded.
However, when Melbourne told him that he left out Elliston's name because he was not a gang member, the witness disagreed.
“I don't know of any shooting that he is a part of, but he is a member of the gang,” he insisted. “I only see him with a gun one time. I never see him pull a trigger or anything.”
The judge again intervened, asking the witness why he had not mentioned Elliston's name and asked how many statements he had given.
The witness, who was slow in answering, was quickly told by the judge: “This is not a trick question. It might have important consequences but is not a trick question.”
The witness replied that he had given more than six statements, adding that he did not know much about Elliston and could only identify him as part of the gang.
He also agreed with the judge that he was not in a position to say that Elliston was a member of the gang as he had never seen him doing anything.
During further cross-examination from other attorneys, the witness maintained that he was being honest and rejected suggestions that he had fabricated the accounts about the defendants being gang members and their roles in alleged criminal acts.
In his defence, the witness told the court that he would not remember all the correct dates and may have made mistakes with the dates and figures but had always told the court the truth in relation to the events.
He also told the judge that he could not come to him with any “hearsay” and was only being truthful about what he knew and had seen.
The witness will continue to face further cross-examination today.
Bryan and 32 other alleged gang members are being tried on an indictment with 25 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act.
The One Don Gang is a breakaway faction of the Clansman Gang.