Blurry custody chain imperils evidence on guns tagged to gang

Crucial evidence that was led by a ballistic expert linking 11 guns that are reportedly a part of the Clansman-One Don Gang’s arsenal to several murders may not be allowed.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes signalled on Thursday during summation that there were chain-of-custody issues with the evidence such as spent casings, guns, bullet fragments, and bullets that were used to arrive at the findings.

A ballistic expert had given evidence that 11 firearms were found to have been used in the execution of 10 murders reportedly orchestrated by the gang.

He had also disclosed that the so-called “system guns” were directly linked to 35 shooting incidents – which include at least 27 other murders – and linked to 16 other firearms.

The expert had arrived at his findings after analysing the evidence such as bullets and spent shell casings that were reportedly recovered from each murder scene.

Five of the 11 firearms were also found to be multiple-activity guns and were ascribed names by an automated firearm identification system and an information database. Those guns were said to have featured in two or more murders.

The evidence presented by the expert witness was in support of the prosecution’s case that the guns that were used in the murders and shootings were all ‘system guns’, meaning they belonged to the gang and featured in different incidents.

However, Justice Sykes yesterday hinted that the connection may have missed the mark and that the evidence may not be accepted.

He said the expert witness attempted to demonstrate the proposition “that certain firearms were used at different crime scenes, and the theory being projected by the Crown was that these firearms belonged to the system; therefore, one should not be surprised if you see the same guns being used at different crime scenes”.

But the judge highlighted that part of the difficulty with that proposition was that in quite a few instances, there was no clear chain-of-custody evidence from the expert to show how the ballistic evidence came into the police’s possession.

“When he began his evidence, he said that he made assumptions, and it is not common that an expert begins his testimony by saying that he is making the assumption that these came from various crime scenes.

“The more reliable way is to establish the chain of custody from the crime scene through to lab, through to expert and then testimony in court that what was picked up at the crime scene was properly labelled and transported, and so on,” the judge added, noting that this would allow the expert to confidently tell the court whether specific evidence was taken from the crime scene.

He further pointed out that the witness was not at any of the crime scenes and that that further undermined Crown’s theory.

The judge briefly made the observation while reviewing the secretly recorded conversation attributed to the gang’s alleged deputy leader, defendant Jason Brown.

In that conversation, the speaker was overheard saying that he knows that Tesha “nuh like him” and that he does not know the “system” like him. One of the prosecution’s witnesses, an ex-gangster, had testified that reference was being made to Tesha Miller, the reputed leader of a faction of the gang.

Brown, who is facing a charge of being part of a criminal organisation, has been behind bars since 2012, serving a life sentence for murder.

The speaker, who is said to be him, was also heard in the voice recording, saying that Tesha got a “jumpstart” and took over the “programme” and killed his “likkle friends” while he was in jail.

The prosecution witness had secretly recorded conversations that he had with several alleged members of the gang on three cellular phones and had turned over the phone and conversations to the police.

Meanwhile, turning to another conversation between the witness and a person who is said to be defendant Roel Taylor, the judge noted that if the conversation were to be accepted as truth, it would undermine evidence given by Taylor that he was just a cabinet maker and had nothing to do with the gang or its activities.

In the conversation, the man was heard discussing guns with the prosecution witness and indicating that a man who was known to him could sort out guns for the gang.

Taylor is charged for being a part of a criminal organisation as well as possession of firearm and ammunition. An illegal gun and ammunition were reported found at his cabinet shop.

Twenty-seven defendants are being tried on an indictment with 14 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act. Five others were earlier freed while another was killed while on bail last August.

Justice Sykes will continue his summation today.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com