Cops in Mario Deane case get new date
THE THREE police officers who are facing multiple charges in connection with the 2014 death of Mario Deane, who died as a result of a beating he sustained while in police custody, had their matter mentioned for case management when they made their first appearance in the St James Circuit Court on Tuesday.
Corporal Elaine Stewart and district constables Juliana Clevon and Marlon Grant were given a new court date of October 2. They had their bails extended until that date, when they will reappear before presiding High Court Justice Sharon George.
Lead prosecutor Maxine Jackson requested the case management date for the prosecution to hold discussions with the three cops’ attorneys on what evidence will be presented during the defendants’ upcoming trial.
“This is a matter that is newly committed to the Circuit Court. In this matter, I’ve served counsel (the defence team) with the committal bundle, so we’re asking for another mention date for case management,” Jackson told Justice George.
THE CHARGES
Stewart, Clevon, and Grant are charged with manslaughter, misconduct in a public office, and perverting the course of justice following allegations that they were on duty at the time when Mario Deane was brutally beaten in a cell at the Barnett Street police lock-up on August 3, 2014.
Deane, who was beaten into a state of unconscious, died three days later at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.
It is alleged that Stewart, the most senior of the trio of police officers, gave instructions for the cell in which the beating took place to be cleaned prior to the arrival of officers from the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM).
The case against the three cops was committed to the Circuit Court for trial when they previously appeared in the St James Parish Court on Monday, May 7. During the committal hearing, presiding parish judge Sandria Wong-Small ruled that there was sufficient evidence for the case to be tried in the Circuit Court.
Marvin Orr and Adrian Morgan, the two inmates charged with murder in connection with the same incident, appeared in the Circuit Court on Monday and had the case against them deferred until October 4.