Prosecution presses JDF witness on what happened in Keith Clarke’s home
Published:Thursday | July 25, 2024 | 12:11 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Brigadier Mahatma Williams, the senior army officer who commanded the unit linked to the death of businessman Keith Clarke, was subjected to additional sustained questioning from the prosecution yesterday as they sought more information on the tragic incident that occurred 14 years ago.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the witness, while in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston, maintained that the five soldiers said to be involved in the shooting incident at Clarke’s Kirkland Heights home in St Andrew did not provide him with specifics.
The senior army officer, however, had told Terrence Williams, then commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), that the soldiers had spoken to him and given him specific details about what had transpired.
In pressing the army man on Wednesday, Jeremy Taylor, senior deputy director of public prosecutions, repeated numerous questions in an effort to tie down the brigadier.
“You told Commissioner Williams that they described how they entered?” Taylor asked.
“Yes, I did,” the witness responded.
“Yes, and you got that information from the men directly,” Taylor said, to which the witness responded, “No, sir. I can’t say.”
Taylor then asked the witness, “When Commissioner Williams said, ‘That’s the five persons when they were talking to you? Did they tell you what happened?’ ‘Yes, Sir!’ Can you explain that answer?”
The witness said he gave the INDECOM commissioner the information that was provided to him about what happened on entry to the room.
As the trial continued, Taylor became more aggressive in tone, asking the witness why his yes did not mean a conclusive yes.
“Brigadier, why would you answer yes to a question that the commissioner asked you if the men spoke to you and told you what happened?” Taylor asked before defence attorney-at-law,Valerie Neita-Robertson, King’s Counsel, arose and objected.
Neita-Robertson, who represents Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier Lance Corporal Greg Tingling, said the prosecutor was arguing with the witness.
The witness said he knew he got the information he gave to the commissioner from the persons present but, given that 14 years had passed, he could not say who had said what, and the men were called away very quickly by the legal office of the army.
Taylor again asked if the information was from the five soldiers who were present, to which the witness responded, “Well, I don’t know which of them. I was given the information that I wanted, and that is the information I presented to the commissioner.”
He added: “They did not speak directly to me. Like I said, sir, it’s a debrief. I take the information from whosoever presents the information. I don’t recall who said what. I answered the question to agree with the commissioner.”
Taylor went on to press the witness to explain why the answer he was giving in court on Wednesday was not the answer given to Commissioner Williams, to which the witness said; “I gave Commissioner Williams the best answer I had ... because I thought I understood what he was asking. You’re asking for a different answer.”
Asked Taylor: “So are you saying now, having heard the question that Commissioner Williams asked you, you misunderstood it?”
The witness responded: “I believe I misunderstood some of his questions.”
After walking out of the courtroom during a break, the witness, visibly frustrated, muttered to himself that the incident he was being asked to testify about took place 14 years ago.
Clarke, 63, was shot 21 times at his home on March 27, 2010, during a police-military operation to apprehend then-fugitive drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
Three soldiers – lance corporals Tingling and Odel Buckley as well as Private Arnold Henry – have been charged with his murder and are being tried before Justice Dale Palmer.