Suspense extended as gang recordings replay starts today
Published:Wednesday | February 16, 2022 | 12:11 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
The former gangster who secretly recorded his phone conversations with alleged members of the Clansman-One Don Gang will return to trial to give evidence today about the audio as it is being played.
The much-anticipated secret recordings were expected to be played on Tuesday, but when the prosecution got around to the ex-gangster, only about 10 minutes was left in the day’s proceedings. That caused the judge to adjourn the matter early for this morning’s resumption.
The confessed gangster-turned-state witness had testified that he had downloaded a call-recording application on three cell phones and had used them to capture conversations he had with his alleged cronies, including reputed leader Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan and the lone female defendant, Stephanie Christie. He later turned over the recordings to the police, who had given him two of the phones.
The third phone was sponsored by Blackman.
The self-confessed community don had also testified that he was Bryan’s driver and nurtured a relationship of trust with the alleged gangsters.
The secret recordings are being relied on by the prosecution to corroborate the testimony of its two main witnesses and to prove that the defendants were operating as a gang.
Earlier during the trial on Tuesday, three transcripts of the recordings, including a 174-page document, were admitted into evidence.
Two police officers had transcribed the audio recordings in the presence of the ex-gangster who identified each speaker.
A rifle that allegedly belonged to the gang was also admitted. The same ex-gangster reportedly handed the gun over to the lead investigator.
The investigator had testified that he did not mark the weapon for identity before turning it over to another officer and could only recall that it was rusty and had ‘SVT’ inscribed on the inside.
But on Tuesday when the officer whom he had given it to appeared, he testified that he did not see any distinguishing mark on the firearm or the inscribed letters.
He further testified that he had not tagged or labelled the weapon but had placed it in an exhibit box and sealed it before taking it to the Forensic Institute.
The witness said he had also photographed the weapon.
He was, however, taken to task by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes and defence counsel for not properly processing the weapon.
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.