lead police investigator has disclosed that there is a possibility that criminal charges could be laid against the prosecution’s second witness in the trial of alleged members of the One Don faction of the Clansman gang.
This after the presiding judge, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, questioned whether the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has a policy of not charging former gang members who turn state witnesses.
The question was posed by Sykes to the police detective on Friday at the trial of 33 alleged members of the Spanish Town, St Catherine-based gang in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.
On Thursday, the policeman, who was being cross-examined, indicated that the prosecution’s second witness, despite being a former member of the One Don faction of the Clansman gang, was not charged as he had not been a suspect in any of the alleged crimes committed by the criminal network.
However, he said investigations were ongoing into the self-styled don’s role in the gang.
But, on Friday, Sykes wanted to know why the former gangster was not charged, even after he told law enforcers about several incidents of criminality in which he participated.
In response, the police officer said the decision was made not to treat the former gangster as a defendant but as a civilian witness, instead.
The policeman, who was introduced to members of the gang by the prosecution’s second witness as his uncle, said if he had charged the second witness then he might not have cooperated in the police’s probe or decided to be a witness.
Citing the anti-gang legislation, the officer said it allowed for a statement to be collected in its “best form” from a former participant of a criminal organisation.
This, according to the officer, was the best option to bring down the One Don faction of the Clansman gang.
It was at that point that Sykes enquired about whether charging an ex-gangster who becomes a state witness was a JCF policy directive.
Responding to the enquiry, the lawman said he could only speak to the approach used in the current gang case in which he was an investigator.
Sykes further pressed the policeman by asking whether the prosecution’s second witness would ever be charged relative to the incidents in the case.
The lawman then stated that there was a possibility that the witness could be charged, as investigations were ongoing into cases such as murder.
Additionally, the officer said the witness was not aware that he faced the possibility of being charged.
During cross-examination by defence attorney Denise Hinson on Thursday, the police officer, when pressed, was forced to admit that the witness was still being probed for his alleged involvement in criminal acts of the gang.
Hinson is representing accused Michael Whitely.
Earlier, the officer had told Hinson that an initial investigation had been done into the self-styled don-turned witness after he gave information to the police.
The probe, according to the police witness, involved checks across the St Catherine North Police Division to ascertain whether the gangster was of interest to the police.
Based on those enquiries, the police detective said the gangster did not surface as a suspect in the alleged incidents carried out by the gang.
The One Don faction of the Clansman gang is allegedly led by Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, who, along with 31 other men and one woman, are being tried in the Home Circuit Court under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations Act), 2014, better known as the anti-gang legislation, on an indictment with 25 counts.
They have been charged with multiple offences, including being part of a criminal organisation, illegal possession of firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, facilitating conspiracy to murder, and facilitating arson.
The offences were allegedly committed between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2019, in St Catherine.