King’s mother ordered to give cops access to phone
Published:Saturday | November 19, 2022 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
AMOI LEON Issa, the mother of nine-year-old Gabriel King, has been instructed by the St James Parish Court to give the police access to her cellular phone to aid the investigation into her son’s January 13 murder by November 24.
Presiding senior parish judge Sasha-Marie Ashley made the order on Friday.
The ruling was in relation to a production order that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) had made for access to her cellular phone, which Issa has refused to grant.
“She (Issa) shall not be entitled to be present during accessing and extraction of communication data and other data, but an attorney instructed by her may be present as an observer only. A third party, being a certified computer technician, may be present to observe only,” Ashley said making the order.
The ruling came after Issa’s attorney, Chukwuemeka Cameron, made a failed bid to have the order discharged or varied, citing claims that the police misled the court in getting the initial order for access to Issa’s phone by saying that cell-site data could be found on the device.
The JCF’s legal representative argued that Section 21 of the Cybercrimes Act does not allow for a production order to be discharged or varied.
King was reportedly abducted on January 13 and killed while travelling with his mother along the Tucker main road in St James.
The police were reportedly granted a court order on September 6 for Issa to give them access to the cellular phone, which is in police custody. Communication cell-site data was also to be handed over to the police within 48 hours.
However, Issa challenged the order in court.