THE eight policemen allegedly involved in a death squad in Clarendon are being investigated for unlawfully killing 40 civilians, it was revealed in court yesterday, where four of the accused were denied bail.
Senior Corporate Area Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey, in explaining why she would not be giving the four accused men bail, cited the figure from Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) documents submitted to the court.
“I am mindful that INDECOM said they are investigating some 40 cases that these men are linked to. These assertions must not be taken lightly,” RM Pusey said.
The magistrate said further that there was evidence that witnesses were “afraid or reluctant” to come forward, and that “the possibility of interference [with witnesses] is massive”.
The magistrate, after denying bail for the four Clarendon-based policemen — Sergeant Leeford Gordon and constables Romaine De La Haye, Damon Robinson and Pete Samuels — set a June 23 date for preliminary enquiry into the killings.
The magistrate’s decision left the accused cops’ colleagues and family members in tears as they left the courtroom in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew.
Following the proceedings, attorney Peter Champagnie, who appears for Samuels, told the Jamaica Observer that his client would be appealing Pusey’s decision.
“Samuels is a fit and proper person for bail,” Champagnie said. The attorney said he would be filing the appeal as soon as he gets the magistrate’s written reasons for the denial of bail.
Gordon, De La Haye and Robinson are charged with the murder of Marvin Shand on the night of January 4 at New Longville Park in Clarendon, while Samuels is charged with the May 25, 2011 killing of Sylvester Gallimore. Another police officer, suspected in the killing of Gallimore, has fled the island, the court was told yesterday.
It’s alleged that Gordon, De La Haye and Robinson ambushed and shot Shand, who was carrying bags of ground provisions and other items on his head and in his hands.
Allegations are also that a photograph of the dead man’s body was found in De La Haye’s cellular phone, which supported reports that Shand was travelling with loaded bags and had no weapon.
Yesterday, the defence said that a gun had been recovered from Shand and that the witness, Shand’s girlfriend, was in no position to tell if Shand had a gun in his hand when he was shot.
The other four policemen, who are being investigated along with yesterday’s four for the extra-judicial killings of 40 civilians are Constable Collis ‘Chuckie’ Brown, who is facing four counts of murder, conspiracy to murder and wounding with intent; Detective Corporal Kevin Adams, who is charged with four counts of murder; and constables Carl Bucknor and Jerome Whyte, who are both charged with one count of murder. They are to also appear before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on June 23 for the preliminary enquiry.
According to INDECOM Commissioner Terrence Williams, these fatal shootings were initially reported as civilian-on-civilian attacks, but investigations later allegedly uncovered that the killings were done by the police.
In court yesterday, Gordon was represented by Queen’s Counsel K Churchill Neita, Dwight Reece appeared for De La Haye and AA Hinds represented Robinson.
The attorneys made impassioned applications on behalf of their clients but were opposed by Williams.
All eyes on the judicial system right now suh dem cyaa afford fi mess up da case yah. Kern get weh aready suh Pusey haffi deh watch wha shi a duh
FINALLY MAYBE THE FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES OF THOSE MURDERED WILL GET CLOSURE AND JUSTICE. JAMAICA IS NOT BRAZIL. DEATH SQUAD TING NAH WORK.
I’m hopeful that these events will bring a turn about to the shabby incompetent police force that Jcans have suffered at their hands for yrs
I need no trial cause see one police run gone then the other one a walk with the dead man picho inna him phone DEM GUILTY all the court need fi do now a bring back hanging meck di nastiness dem think twice before dem kill people
The guys these Police officers are accused of killing were some of Clarendon’s most wanted or out on bail, they were all alleged to have committed murder, rape, and other serious crimes. I am not sanctioning extra judicial killings but i woulda prefer to wait till i hear all the facts. one of them men was killed january this year, he was wanted for the past 7 years for a number of serious crimes, as far as i am concerned he got what he deserved
Not all of them were murder’s…Collis “chucky” Brown killed two (2) youth down a georges valley district by pulling up to the spot weh dem always hang out in an unmarked car and spray di youth dem….the youth cousin saw chucky brown come out and pump two more in the youth to make sure him dead.
All now the girl traumatized!!
I remember when May Pen was on the news every night. Pure robbery, rape an murder. The police dem never expect no justice and dem get rid a di criminal dem. It ironic how justice chip in now. Mi see one whole community a protest fi di police an a seh the robbery start up back. Mi nah pretend seh some police no wicked. but nuff a the ‘victim’ dem in this case was ole criminal
That is why I’m all for extra-judicial killing by the police. That is the only way we are going to get a grip on our crime problem. Let the police loose to hunt down and kill the criminals on the spot. That is the way Columbia contain their crime problem. Imagine if the police had killed Kartel and his Cronies 5-10 years ago? We would have at least 100 people alive today. We need to stop making excuses for these criminals. If we did not have extra-judicial killings our murder rate would be through the roof, with over 4,000 murders per year.
IDEMCOM need to hold a back seat and let the police thin the herd further. The only message these criminal understand is that if they cornered by the police, they are going to be exterminated by the police. The policemen arrested will all be set free by the jury, since the jury members have to live among these thugs. Kill all of them, I say!
U CANNOT SOLVE CRIME WITH CRIME IF JCAN POLICE SPEND THE TIME FI GATHER EVIDENCE N PROVE TO WITNESSES THAT IT IS WORTHWHILE TALKING TO THEM THE POLICE THEN ALL CRIMINAL ELEMENTS CAN N WILL GET THEIR JUST REWARD
Who tell you that? The USA uses drones to kill hundreds of terrorists each year. There must be some proof that killing these terrorist on the spot works. They are now scared to talk on their cell phone or push their heads out of their caves. Jamaica need some drones where we can eliminate these miscreants in groups of ten.
You are an certified idiot .You should be banned from the internet .
:hammer
You can easily discern individuals with limited intellect. They always default to name calling when confronted with facts. I’m glad I have the USA as part of my “certified idiot” crew.
So you are of with the USA using cowardly drones to kill whole families as long as it’s not your family ?
You are already certified as an idiot ,next step is to get you banned from the internet .People like you are very dangerous and selfish and believe everyone should be denied of their right to life so you can ”feel” safe .That’s a very cruel and selfish attitude and one that is in line with the people who kill others so they can get their money .
I am recommend you go and listen to Robert Meyer’s radio play called Drone Pilots .That would be a good start in the curing of your psychopathic idiocy ..
also people, i don’t know if any of you heard when kartel mention ‘priest'(him ago mek the priest dem deal wid dem) in the voice notes……..i have heard him used that term to refer to police before………just saying
Mi always a hear unoo a use “priest” ina di wrong context, when dem reffer to u as priest it means dem a call u b***yman…..
About time dem get rid of them, for too long now these types of killing by JCF been going on. time fi we tek back our country from the hands of criminal!
Hope all who support police murdering Jamaicans still support it when your sons and daughter is the victim of this cruel police force .Imagine 8 of these police are responsible for 40 murders ,those are 40 murders that were counted in our murder rate,40 human like yourself ,40 people who have families .
My fore parents died for a just Jamaica not a Jamaica according to the rules of these cruel men .
What happen when your sons and daughters are victim of these marauding criminals? Let me guess, you are a criminal lover, aren’t you? You do know that you are more likely to be a victim of criminals as oppose to the police. Over 1200 people murdered in 2013 by the people you like. None of those 40 people were angels.
Well Gabriel ,it’s with sadness that I can confirm that some of my closest friends and families have been victims of crime in the worst way possible and I was also not immune .We are yet to find the bodies of some of them,including my best friend .Save your ”you don’t know” for someone else .Jamaica have laws ,the laws are created by parliament which represent the people and those laws must be obeyed by everyone .
The police in executing their duties MUST do so within the confines of the law . I was on numerous times a victim of police brutality .Have you ever had a gun pointed at you with a police asking ”kill da one yah ” ? Bet you haven’t .Have you ever had a person who is friends of the police asking the police to interfere in a civil matter and seeing them using a bulldozer to destroy your property ? Have you ever taken the government to court after the police beat your family member senseless because they ”did not run when dem see police ” ? Jamaicans are very tired of shoot outs where pillow were place over the victims head while they sleep .We are tired of these scary police who will kill you because they can .We have laws that work and a justice system that can work .We don’t need your advice Mr ,go and give it to the USA police .
After reading your epistle, it is now clear to me that your warped views of justice lies in your inherent hatred for the police, and/or authority figures in general. I could go further and develop a profile of you based sole on your writings, but I will resist the urge.
The realities my friend is, despite your erroneous conclusion, the law and the accompanying system as we have it, does not work. With a murder clear up rate of less than 20% (i.e. 80%+ of the homicide cases goes unsolved), you have to be in la-la land to make such a silly statement.
If the police do not kill these murderers on the spot, we would have far more criminals free to commit even more homicides. In case you know know this, the police in most cases knows who the killers are (they have have reluctant eyewitnesses and paid informants in every community in Jamaica). Without willing eye witnesses, we will never convict most of the murderers walking our streets. The only sure way is to identify these killers and eliminate them systematically. Contrary to your misstatement, the people of Jamaica are behind the police and fully support extra-judicial killings, so I’m perplexed as to where you get your facts from. In fact, most of what you wrote were mere figments of your imagination….made up stuff to elicit support for your contrarian views and add legitimacy to a flawed argument.
Frankly, I welcome you to the ranks of the “certified idiots”! You sir, is now an order of magnitude (or two) above the rest of us. You are in a league of your own. :ngakak
I am not attempting in anyway to debate with you as you have already exposed yourself as the person I described earlier . I will however try to educate you .Being in a position of authority does not obsolve one from the rule of law .The use of lethal force is govern by the laws of the land and any use of such force must fall within the remits of those laws .A police who take it up on him or herself to use such force outside the law is breaking the law and therefore must be brought before the court on charges relating to their actions .There is no going around it .
To compare the topic being discussed to the USA use of done to kill, is stupid as there are laws in the USA that authorise the use of such force, while in Jamaica only our courts can decide that an unharmed person be killed and that is via the death penalty .
You must have a PhD in animal excrements for you to discern from my writings that I hate the police and abhor authority .I will not address that any further.
jAY @ April 12, 2014 at 3:55 am says:
People like you are very dangerous and selfish and believe everyone should be denied of their right to life…
The above statement obviously shows the limits of your reasoning abilities. Boss, the murderers are the ones denying over 1200 Jamaicans per year of their lives. They are, in fact, the judge, jury and executioner. Do YOU not know this? How could you confuse them with me? Who is the “certified idiot” here? Don’t answer that last question since it was meant as a rhetorical question.
You said…“I was on numerous times a victim of police brutality”. I wonder why? Are you a certified criminal or are you a reform one? That might explain your deep-seated hatred for the police and your inability to correctly formulate coherent positions on police matters. Personally, I have never had any run ins with the Police, since I live a criminal free life, avoiding any unpleasant opportunities to engage the police. I suggest you do the same for your own safety.
It is good that we live in a democracy where one can freely use the internet to voice their opinions without threats of being banned. Again, I think you are a victim of not the police, but geography. You grew up in one of the ghettos of Kingston, right? That might explain why you are so eager to have me banned from the internet (an impossibility in case you are unaware of how that medium works). That “donmanship” environment has molded you into thinking that others should not have independent thoughts, since the Don did all the thinking for you.
Anyway, keep away from badmanism/criminality and you will have nothing to worry about as far as the police is concern. BTW, was your uncle killed by the police?