I really need the closure, says Deane’s mom

WESTERN BUREAU:

Mercia Frasier, the mother of Mario Deane, is pleased with Thursday’s order from the St James Circuit Court that the case against three police officers in relation to her son’s death in 2014 should be transferred to another parish.

“The judge really spoke out strongly about what is going on, and he was thinking that we should move the case, as I have said before and as we have been begging before, to move it from Montego Bay to somewhere else, even Kingston. The judge agreed with me this time around ... ,” Frasier told The Gleaner yesterday.

She was referencing High Court Justice Bertram Morrison’s decision to grant an application from the prosecution to transfer the case of Corporal Elaine Stewart and Constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant to another parish for trial. The matter will be mentioned again this morning to determine which parish it will be transferred to.

In explaining his decision on Thursday morning, Justice Morrison cited the ongoing issue of juror unavailability in St James as a major reason why the 10-year-old matter has not proceeded to trial, with none of the 300 summonses prepared for the current sitting of the Circuit Court having been served.

He noted that correspondence provided to the court listed several excuses for the lack of responses to jury summonses, including vague community addresses, lack of cooperation with the police, and untimely delivery of summonses.

“Justice delayed is justice denied, and what accounts for the delay? A significant part of it is that there has been an insufficiency of jurors, which is why this case could not have been tried in the past. For 10 years, these three persons, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a jury of their peers, have been waiting and so have the family members of the deceased person,” he said.

“How can that be justice in this country at this time? We have to find a solution. Nobody is going to be served [for jury duty], and it is painfully obvious,” Morrison continued. “I am indignant at the paltriness of these excuses because there are other matters which I have tried since I have been here, and jurors have been found, but for this matter, oddly enough, none can be found.”

In the meantime, Frasier said all she wants is closure.

“I really need the closure, and I need this thing to get behind me as I do not need to get up and face it every day and relive it all over again. The last 10 years have not been easy, and for Mother’s Day, my birthday, and Christmas, it is the hardest,” said Frasier. “The memories keep coming back, and it is painful sometimes, but I try to live through it because I cannot go down with it. This court thing is the worst part of it because it keeps bringing back sad memories, but hopefully, we will hear exactly where the matter will go, and I am bracing myself for that.”

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 lock-up in Montego Bay, St James, when Deane – a 31-year-old man arrested earlier that day for possession of a small amount of ganja – was reportedly beaten while in custody on August 3, 2014. He died in hospital 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.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com