Clash over evidence from US consultant aborts Keith Clarke hearing
Published:Wednesday | July 10, 2024 | 12:11 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Tuesday’s hearing in the Keith Clarke murder trial in the Home Circuit Court ended prematurely after a heated showdown between the prosecution and the defence over evidence to come from a United States (US) forensic consultant.
Defence attorney Valerie Neita-Robertson, KC, pressed the Crown, led by prosecutor Latoya Bernard, to explain how the labels on ballistics could have been changed without disclosure to the defence.
Neita-Robertson expressed concern that the prosecution witness, who would appear via video link from another jurisdiction and who was brought to Jamaica following the Tivoli Gardens invasion, would give evidence with different ballistics labelling from what the defence has on record.
“We expected the things that should have been done by the prosecution ... have not been done,” Neita-Robertson said.
Responding immediately, Bernard said: “There are certain things that are being said on the record, and a lot of times, I sit and I keep quiet just for peace’s sake.”
She then sought to reassure the defence that nothing would come from questioning the US forensic consultant that would be different from the evidence in the ballistics.
Neita-Robertson, however, was not satisfied, saying that she did not know where the evidence examined by the forensic consultant came from.
JUDGE’S INTERVENTION
Presiding judge Justice Dale Palmer intervened in the tense exchange. He said that had the concern been brought to his attention prior, he would have spoken to the Crown.
He agreed that there should be a pause on the evidence from the US forensic consultant and an early end to the court’s proceeding for the day.
Clarke, a businessman, was shot dead during an operation at his home by the security forces in May 2010 as they searched for then-fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
Three soldiers – lance corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley as well as Private Arnold Henry – were charged with his murder in 2012.
Neita-Robertson is representing Tinglin.
The US forensic consultant on Tuesday told the court that he runs his own consultative business in Seattle, Washington, and specialises in forensic consultancy and scene reconstruction. He noted that he has some 39 years of experience in forensic science.
Following the Tivoli Gardens incursion, he said that he consulted with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and came to Jamaica numerous times, as the USAID was looking for ballistic consultancy to examine the exhibits recovered in connection to the Tivoli incident.
He said he worked at a government laboratory on Old Hope Road in St Andrew while in Jamaica.
In 2011, he was also hired as a visiting consultant by the Independent Commission of Investigations.
The prosecution yesterday indicated that they would call other witnesses on their list and find out their availability for the proceedings to continue.