Lawyer questions witness’ claim of don status
Published:Tuesday | November 16, 2021 | 12:11 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The ex-crony of the One Don Gang testified on Monday that one of the 33 alleged members of the gang now on trial had told him that he had murdered a policeman in Portmore, St Catherine, but faced withering cross-examination questioning the credibility of his reputed status as a community don.
The second prosecution witness blurted out the information about the cop killing in the Home Circuit Court while he was being grilled by defence attorney-at-law Keith Bishop about why he had not mentioned the word ‘top tier’ in any of his statements but had used it several times during his testimony.
Bishop questioned whether someone had told him to use the word.
The lawyer is representing defendant Lamar Simpson, who the witness referred to as ‘Sickhead’ or ‘Brains’.
The witness had used the term ‘top-tier’ to describe members of the gang who were in its hierarchy, including community dons, a title he claimed had been bestowed on him by the alleged leader.
However, in answering the attorney, the witness admitted that he could not remember using it in his statements but had learnt the word from reputed gang leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, along with ‘fryers’.
“I can’t recall using those two words in my statements, just like how I did not put it in my statement that Brains told me he killed a policeman in Portmore,” he said, adding that he had only used ‘top-tier’ in the court.
During further cross-examination, the ex-gangster, who claimed he was one of One Don’s second-in-commands, revealed that the organisation had carried out contract killings for persons from overseas for US$5,000.
The witness, in making the admission, said that the money would be collected by an individual, who would then receive further instructions from Blackman.
The former top-tier gangster was answering questions about One Don’s private meetings from which he said he was excluded.
The ex-gangster explained that the private meetings which he had testified about not being invited to were specifically held with contract killers when they had a ‘hit job’.
He previously testified that contract-killing meetings were convened by Blackman and that he, the witness, was not privy to those discussions.
According to the witness, defendants Dwight Hall (Jim Brown), Pete Miller (Smokey), and Marco Miller (Ezi) enjoyed killing people and did not spare their families.
“They love to kill. Mek me tell yuh the truth, dem kill their own and bury dem,” he said, adding that they were the only dons who “go out and do their own shootings”.
The lawyer then turned the spotlight on the witness and questioned the legitimacy of his claim that he was a don, suggesting that his supposed actions did fit the role.
The witness agreed that he had told the court that a don would control the community and would be responsible for deciding who was killed and who lived.
He also testified that they carried out killings.
But when he was asked by Bishop whether he had performed those tasks as the don, the witness said he had never carried out any violent acts, nor any robberies, theft, shoplifting, or extortion.
During further questions from Bishop, the witness denied going through any initiation in the gang or getting any beatings to see how strong he was.
According to the witness, the only thing he did during his tenure as a don was to collect guns.
The lawyer then suggested to the witness that his performance showed that he was never a don, but he disagreed, insisting that he had that status.
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes told the witness that his utterances suggested that he was never really a don as he claimed having not carried out criminal actions consistent with that role.
The 33 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.
The witness will continue to face further cross-examination today.