Tesha Miller claims rights breach over lack of access to documents

Reputed leader of the St Catherine-based Clansman Gang Tesha Miller is objecting to the electronic serving of material by the Crown on the basis that he cannot electronically access them while being incarcerated to prepare his defence.

A letter voicing Miller’s complaint was sent in April by attorney-at-law John Clarke, who is representing Miller, to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and also copied to the relevant state organs.

Clarke has outlined in the letter, headed “breach of accused’s constitutional right to adequate facilities to prepare for defence”, that he is unable to share the “147 documents received and the eight scene-of-crime (SOC) CD images and video with my client because disclosure in this matter was effected electronically in a manner that cannot be viewed by the accused”.

Clarke added, “Based on the foregoing, we are of the view that there is no reasonably accessible disclosure to the accused to ensure he has adequate access to the material to instruct counsel accordingly and that his fair trial rights are not abrogated, abridged or infringed.”

On June 24, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes issued “Practice Direction No. 2 of 2024 Disclosure By Electronic Method (Criminal Proceedings)”, which came into effect on June 28. It states: “With immediate effect, the primary method of disclosure in criminal proceedings shall be electronic.”

The Practice Directions state: “These directions provide guidance for the prosecution in discharging its disclosure obligations, thereby leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness in court proceedings.”

Clarke said yesterday (Wednesday) that the only responses so far since the letter was sent in April are the Practice Directions by the chief justice and a letter from the Office of the DPP stating that Miller’s rights were not being breached.

Miller is having difficulty preparing his defence because “one of the reasons is that attorneys-at-law cannot take electronic devices when visiting their clients who are remanded, and an accused in custody does not have access to such devices in prison”, Clarke stated in the letter.

Miller is charged jointly with 23 alleged members of the gang under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act commonly known as the anti-gang legislation.

Dr Paul Robinson, 65, is charged with allegedly giving medical assistance to two members of the gang who had gunshot injuries and allegedly failing to report the matter to the police.

Robinson and the alleged gang members were ordered on July 12 to return to the Home Circuit Court on October 10. He is on bail.

‘State’s responsibility’

Clarke said further in the letter: “We remind your office that the Correctional Centre has a policy that prevents lawyers (not doctors) from carrying electronic devices to interact with inmates. This policy ensures that the manner of disclosure chosen by the Crown is not in the ‘most user-friendly format’ for the accused man.”

Clarke told The Gleaner recently that there were more than 100,000 pages of disclosure, and there were more than 100 audio files, videos, and photographs. None of the PDFs presented to us are searchable, and some of the documents include handwritten police notes in this matter.

Clarke said also that he had no resources to print the mountain of disclosures sent by the Crown. He said his client advised that he had no intention of paying to print the material.

The letter further stated that “in our view, after examining the authorities, it is the State’s responsibility to provide reasonably accessible disclosure to the accused person. We seek disclosure that is consistent with fundamental fairness”.

Clarke outlined further that “if we do not have a meaningful response, our instructions are to seek the assistance of the court to determine whether the form of disclosure meets the constitutional standard or is consistent with fundamental fairness. We have copied the relevant state organs to this letter for their information and any action they deem fit in light of their respective roles”.

It is being alleged that the 23 participated in several criminal activities between August 5, 2017, and August 22, 2022, in St Catherine. The charges against them include murder, conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravation, illegal possession of firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition.

The accused were all present at a case-management hearing in July, which was presided over by Justice Vinette Graham Allen.

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