Decision on venue for cops' trial in Mario Deane case set for Friday morning

WESTERN BUREAU: The three police officers who are charged in relation to the 2014 death of Mario Deane will learn on Friday morning, November 15, which parish their case will be transferred to for trial.

Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant had their bails extended this afternoon in the St James Circuit Court, following a declaration from presiding High Court Justice Bertram Morrison earlier this morning that their matter should be transferred outside of St James.

The decision was made based on the difficulty of finding jurors in St James to try the case against the three officers. It was disclosed earlier this week that none of 300 juror summonses which had been prepared for the current sitting of the St James Circuit Court were served.

During this afternoon's mention of the case, it was disclosed that Hanover, Trelawny, and St Ann, which had been suggested as alternative venues, would not be able to accommodate the matter due to their own jury and case management issues.

Justice Morrison had already ruled against sending the case to the Home Circuit Court in Kingston for trial, as defence attorneys Martyn Thomas and Dalton Reid argued that sending the matter so far out of St James would negatively impact their clients' ability to have their case heard.

Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice, arising from allegations that they were on duty at the Barnett Street police pick-up in Montego Bay, St James when Mario Deane – a 31-year-old man arrested earlier that day for possession of a small amount of ganja – was reportedly beaten while in custody at the facility on August 3, 2014. Deane was admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in an unresponsive state and died three days later.

It is also alleged that Stewart, the senior officer on duty, ordered the cleaning of the cell where the beating took place before investigators from the Independent Commission of Investigations arrived.

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