Clarendon bloodbath #2

[Sinco01]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

KRAAL TRIAL: DAY 13 - Eleven-year-old girl testifies
published: Thursday | November 17, 2005

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl testified yesterday that on May 7, 2003, while she and a man called 'Bulpy' were on the verandah playing cards, a bus with policemen drove up to the house in Kraal, Clarendon, and began firing shots.

Shanice Stoddart, the daughter of Lowena Thompson, who was one of the four civilians fatally shot at Kraal, was testifying at the trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and the other five policemen charged with murder.

A female representative of the Victims Support Unit sat behind Shanice in the witness box following a ruling made yesterday by Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe.

The Chief Justice questioned her as to whether she understood the oath before she was sworn. When the Chief Justice asked Shanice which school she attended she replied with great confidence, "I don't wish to tell you sir."

Shanice said in the Home Circuit Court that when the police began firing, 'Shortman' was at the house and 'Shortman' said "police, run". He ran down the cocoa walk at the back of the house. Bashington Douglas was the person referred to by the witness as 'Shortman' and he is also called 'Chen Chen'.

The witness said that before the police arrived, she and other persons including her mother, 'Shortman', two men from Spanish Town and Kemar Miller, were at the house of Angella Richards. She said she and her mother were playing cards with 'Bulpy'. After a while her mother finished playing and she (Shanice) and Bulpy continued playing the card game until the police arrived.

RAN UNDER BED

Shanice said when the police began firing, her mother ran into the house and went on one of the beds and she and Angella Richards, also called 'Angie', ran under one of the beds. While under the bed, she said she heard a policeman saying they should come out and she and Angie came out.

She went into Angie's lap and the policeman told Angie to let her go. She said she heard Angie telling the policeman not to kill her (Angie) but the policeman did not reply. Angie, who was sitting on the bed, did not want to let her go and the policeman squeezed Angie's throat and she let her go.

"The same policeman took me outside to the mango tree, told me to go home," Shanice said. She said she was going to walk through the gate but the policeman told her not to walk there. She said she went through a shortcut and went to another house in the district.

The witness was cross-examined yesterday as to interviews she gave in relation to the incident. She was also shown clips from videos of the interviews she gave.

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

KRAAL TRIAL DAY 10:
Cop testifies
published: Saturday | November 12, 2005

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

A policeman testified yesterday, that after the shooting incident at Kraal, Clarendon, on May 7, 2003, he collected several firearms from the now disbanded Crime Management Unit and the Special Anti-Crime Task Force.

Sgt. Hayden Brown said that on May 9, 2003, while he was attached to the Bureau of Special Investigations, he collected the firearms which comprised M16 rifles, 9mm pistols and a .357 Magnum.

He said he took the firearms to the Government Forensic Laboratory for testing and recorded their serial numbers. He said he was not the person who retrieved them from the laboratory.

On being shown one of the M16 rifles he said that when he took the rifles to the laboratory they were all assembled. The one being shown to him in court was dismantled.

assembled rifles

Cross-examination of the witness was put off until Monday so that the rifles can be assembled.

Sgt. Brown was testifying at the trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams, former head of the CMU and other five policemen charged with the murder of four civilians at Kraal, Clarendon, on May 7, 2003.

The policeman said he went to Kraal on May 8, 2003, and while there Inspector Duane Welling-ton found four bullet fragments and handed them to him.

Sgt. Brown said he went to the Chapelton police station in Clarendon where the station guard handed a 9 mm Taurus pistol over to him. He said he also received four unexpended 9mm rounds of ammunition from Detective Corporal Brown at the Four Paths police station and he took all the items to the laboratory.

delivery receipt book

Inspector Reginald Mowatt, attached to the police stores and armoury, produced a delivery receipt book in court, which contained information that on July 15, 1997, a colt M16 A2 Carbine was issued to SSP Adams. He said SSP Adams had signed for the firearm.

Cross-examined by K. Churchill Neita, who represents SSP Adams, the witness was asked if it were possible to disassemble an M16 rifle and shift the barrel by putting in another barrel and he said that could be done

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

KRAAL TRIAL: WEEK TWO WRAP-UP:
Transcript from police cassette played to jury
published: Saturday | November 12, 2005


Adams

Corporal Clinton Ricketts, of the Telecom-munications Division, testified on Wednesday afternoon that on June 16, 2003, a request was made for him to undertake an assignment. He said in complying with the request, he got the logging from Police Control where information was kept.

He said he went to the telecommunications room where the dictaphone and tapes were stored. He said he found the transmissions which were on the Area 5 transmission and he was instructed to make copies of the original tape. He said the tape was in relation to a transmission in connection with the Kraal incident on May 7, 2003. The tape was tendered in evidence.

call from SSP Adams

Sergeant Granville Williams of the Communications Division at 103 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6, said he was in charge of technical operations and he monitored all transmissions by police radio and the 119 telephone calls. He said Corporal Ricketts worked with him.

On August 24, 2003, a request was made to him and he began searching for information in relation to a call from SSP Adams to Police Control that a 9 mm Taurus pistol was found at the crime scene at Kraal. He said that he found the information. He said there was a further request to make a full transcript of the transmission in relation to the Kraal shooting. Cassettes and transcripts of the Kraal incident were tendered in evidence.

The cassette from which the transcript was made was played to the jury on Thursday morning. SSP Adams was heard reporting to Police Control at 6:08 p.m. that "all right, please note we are in Pennant, Clarendon. We have approached a house here and about eight gunmen have opened fire on us. We are in the act of now returning the fire." He also asked Control at 6:15 p.m. to ask the Chapelton police to come to the location which was the road leading to the gold mine. He reported further: "Ahm ... in a shoot out here. Some persons have been injured seriously and we want to get them off to the hospital."

telescopic rifle recovered

SSP Adams reported at 6:15 p.m. that a telescopic rifle with lens and ammunition were telescopic rifle and they were further searching the premises. He was also heard again reporting that gunmen were injured and asking if the police unit had left from Chapelton.

When Police Control told him at 7:09 p.m. that units from Chapelton were in the area saying they could not locate him, SSP Adams said: "if they cannot find me, if I am on the road that leads to the gold mine in their area, it's a sad day for them, madam."

SSP Adams reported at 7:08 p.m. that a Taurus 9 mm pistol had been recovered along with magazine and ammunition and he would "soon afford the serial number."

He reported to Police Control at 7:44 p.m. that "as close as Chapelton is, police hasn't arrived yet." SSP Adams was heard asking if the "Scene of Crime people or CIB from May Pen "had been informed of the incident. He expressed concern to Police Control that "right, remember as close as Chapelton is, police hasn't arrived yet".

Various voices were heard on the transmission saying, "very good work. Right boss another one. One up Reneto, one up. Right that man Chen Chen might be in dat room. Good work Supa. Good work boss." There was a transmission at 7:44 p.m. from Adams saying: "Right, remember as close as Chapelton is, police hasn't arrive yet."

[Sinco01]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

KRAAL TRIAL: WEEK TWO WRAP-UP:
Transcript from police cassette played to jury
published: Saturday | November 12, 2005


Adams

Corporal Clinton Ricketts, of the Telecom-munications Division, testified on Wednesday afternoon that on June 16, 2003, a request was made for him to undertake an assignment. He said in complying with the request, he got the logging from Police Control where information was kept.

He said he went to the telecommunications room where the dictaphone and tapes were stored. He said he found the transmissions which were on the Area 5 transmission and he was instructed to make copies of the original tape. He said the tape was in relation to a transmission in connection with the Kraal incident on May 7, 2003. The tape was tendered in evidence.

call from SSP Adams

Sergeant Granville Williams of the Communications Division at 103 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6, said he was in charge of technical operations and he monitored all transmissions by police radio and the 119 telephone calls. He said Corporal Ricketts worked with him.

On August 24, 2003, a request was made to him and he began searching for information in relation to a call from SSP Adams to Police Control that a 9 mm Taurus pistol was found at the crime scene at Kraal. He said that he found the information. He said there was a further request to make a full transcript of the transmission in relation to the Kraal shooting. Cassettes and transcripts of the Kraal incident were tendered in evidence.

The cassette from which the transcript was made was played to the jury on Thursday morning. SSP Adams was heard reporting to Police Control at 6:08 p.m. that "all right, please note we are in Pennant, Clarendon. We have approached a house here and about eight gunmen have opened fire on us. We are in the act of now returning the fire." He also asked Control at 6:15 p.m. to ask the Chapelton police to come to the location which was the road leading to the gold mine. He reported further: "Ahm ... in a shoot out here. Some persons have been injured seriously and we want to get them off to the hospital."

telescopic rifle recovered

SSP Adams reported at 6:15 p.m. that a telescopic rifle with lens and ammunition were telescopic rifle and they were further searching the premises. He was also heard again reporting that gunmen were injured and asking if the police unit had left from Chapelton.

When Police Control told him at 7:09 p.m. that units from Chapelton were in the area saying they could not locate him, SSP Adams said: "if they cannot find me, if I am on the road that leads to the gold mine in their area, it's a sad day for them, madam."

SSP Adams reported at 7:08 p.m. that a Taurus 9 mm pistol had been recovered along with magazine and ammunition and he would "soon afford the serial number."

He reported to Police Control at 7:44 p.m. that "as close as Chapelton is, police hasn't arrived yet." SSP Adams was heard asking if the "Scene of Crime people or CIB from May Pen "had been informed of the incident. He expressed concern to Police Control that "right, remember as close as Chapelton is, police hasn't arrived yet".

Various voices were heard on the transmission saying, "very good work. Right boss another one. One up Reneto, one up. Right that man Chen Chen might be in dat room. Good work Supa. Good work boss." There was a transmission at 7:44 p.m. from Adams saying: "Right, remember as close as Chapelton is, police hasn't arrive yet."

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

Evidence labelled 'health hazard'
published: Saturday | November 12, 2005


A detective overseeing the removal of furniture from the death house in Kraal on June 3, 2003 where four people were killed by the police on May 7, 2003.

The sheets, which Superintendent Ezra Stewart took from the house at Kraal and other items of clothing, were admitted in evidence on Thursday. On being asked to open them to show the jury, he pointed out that they were in plastic bags which were labelled 'health hazard'. He said he took the sheets when he went to Kraal on May 9, 2003.

Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe then said that he was not going to allow any package so labelled to be opened in court. Superintendent Stewart said he attended the Spanish Town Hospital morgue where the post-mortem was performed on May 23, 2003. He said Dr. Prasad handed him fragments which were removed from the bodies of three of the deceased, and also gave him blood samples and contents from the stomach which he took to the Government Forensic Laboratory.

making observations

He said that when he went to the morgue, he saw Professor Derrick Pounder from a University in Scotland, who was making observations on behalf of the relatives of the deceased and the human rights group, Jamaican for Justice.

Under cross-examination, he said that on May 7, 2003, it was communicated to him that SSP Adams had warrants for the arrest of Bashington Douglas. He said he was not aware that Douglas was wanted for murder, but he knew there were outstanding warrants for him for different offences. He said he was told that Douglas was subsequently arrested and charged and that was after May 7, 2003.

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

... and the police were 'bursting shots'
published: Saturday | November 12, 2005


Dr. Kadiyala Prasad, a consultant forensic pathologist, was cross-examined on Monday. He said he could not definitely say what position the victims were in when they received the gunshot injuries. He said it was possible that they were standing and it was possible they could have been moving when they received the gunshot injuries.

He said it was possible that any one of the four deceased could have moved a distance of 15 to 20 feet after sustaining the injuries. Asked how he was able to identify the fragments of bullets which he said he removed from three of the bodies, he said he made diagrams or drawings of the fragments on the body maps.

diagrams tendered

The diagrams were tendered in evidence. It was suggested to him that the drawings did not bear a fair resemblance of the fragments, but he said he disagreed with the suggestion. He said he drew the fragments to the best of his ability.

Kemar Miller, 19, testified on Monday that he lived at Kraal. He said on May 7, 2003, he was coming from shop and was going towards the house where the four civilians were shot when he heard 'pure gunshots start to burst'.

bursting shots

He said a blue and white vehicle was at the gate and police were 'bursting shots'. He said he saw persons at the house running because the police were firing shots. He said he ran because the police fired shots at him. He said he saw a man called 'Bulpy' who was at the house running when the shots were being fired.

Lawyers for the defence and the prosecution made legal submissions for most of the day on Wednesday. The submissions were made in the absence of the jury.

Eight witnesses are left for the week.

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

Originally posted by Sinco01:
[qb]

yes sah .. things a stir now

suh dem want discredit de witness because him haffi stay abroad ..
knowing seh if him stay ah yaad him six feet undr by now ..

well .. well

what discrepancies were in the eyewitnesses story .. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
what room in the the hous they handed the gun to "supa" .. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [/qb]

The courts and the state must stand firm


Friday, November 18, 2005



We have had, in the recent past, criminal cases against notorious gangsters collapse because witnesses have been afraid to testify - with some justification.

Indeed, it is not unheard of in Jamaica for witnesses not only to be threatened, but actually bumped off. When, therefore, a witness in a case against a gangster, not so long ago, backed out of the proceedings, it hardly raised a national eyebrow.

Neither was there a ripple when it was disclosed in court a fortnight ago that a witness in the case against Donald 'Zeeks' Phipps, the alleged Matthews Lane strongman, had been threatened.

Little has since been heard of this issue although the case is expected to get under way in a few weeks.

We hope that everything is done to protect the integrity and safety of this witness and for a trial of real substance to take place. For there is much at stake, not least the future of Jamaica as a single, unitary state rather than inchoate pockets, presided over by petty warlords.

Of course, this newspaper does not know who threatened the witness and neither do we speculate on the matter. What is critical is that it has happened, placing not only a case but the credibility of the judicial process in jeopardy.

Like everyone else, Mr Phipps is entitled to a fair trial, which demands that all credible evidence in the case, for defence and prosecution, be aired in court.

It is important, therefore, that the judicial process, having regard for the larger picture, does not bend on this matter, and that any resolve displayed by the judiciary is underpinned by the full authority of the Jamaican state, or what is left of it.

It would seem to us that in circumstances where witnesses have been threatened or have justifiable fear for their lives or those of their close family, the courts must not be hurried into hearings or to order the release of persons who have actually been charged.

We largely agree with the concept that justice delayed is justice denied. But it also makes a mockery of the idea and ideals of justice if an accused person is made to profit from threats and intimidation, even if those threats have not come from, and are without the support of, the potential beneficiary.
In such circumstances, the courts must look askance at any effort at manipulation of the legal process.

We believe, too, as has been suggested by the police, that there needs to be a review of the Bail Act to take into account the issues that we have raised, and to ensure the prosecution time to rebuild cases that have been weakened and undermined because of threats.

There is also a political dimension to this issue, which must be addressed. The "garrisonisation" of Jamaican politics has fostered a culture of impunity. So-called 'dons' and area leaders kill and maim without consequence, and assorted petty criminals can find safe haven in communities which have moved beyond the rule of law in so far as that law is enforced by the state.

In the circumstance, the formal political process has become entrapped by the community 'don', on whose favour the 'official' leader may mount platforms to declaim on the 'peace' of this or that community. All of this, of course, rings hollow. For the rest of us know the truth.

The question is: do the political leaders have the will to face the truth and to break free of this trap fashioned by themselves

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

Shanice fails to show to continue testimony

Observer Reporter
Friday, November 18, 2005



THE chief prosecution witness in the Crawle murder trial, Shanice Stoddart, the 11year-old girl who should have resumed her testimony yesterday, did not turn up in court and no excuse was given for her absence.

Ninety minutes after the scheduled 10 o'clock start of the Home Circuit Court, crown counsel Terrence Williams advised trial judge Lensley Wolfe that Shanice was having difficulty getting to court and suggested that another witness be called until she arrived.

"My lord, the witness is having some discomfiture so may we, my lord, call another witness until she gets here," said Williams.

Twice during the day's proceedings Williams informed the court that Shanice would soon be in attendance, but the witness failed to show to give testimony at the murder trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and five members of the disbanded Crime Management Unit for the shooting deaths of four people - including two women - at Crawle, Clarendon.

On Wednesday, Shanice, who is under the Witness Protection Programme, began her testimony in the police killing of her mother Lowena Thompson and three others on May, 7, 2003 in Crawle, Clarendon.

Accompanied in the witness stand by an officer of the Victim Support Pogramme, Shanice told what happened at Crawle when she was eight years old. But her testimony was interrupted by requests for three bathroom breaks. Her last request was about 4:00 pm when she told the court that she had a long day and her "tummy was hurting".

On her return, the judge adjourned the trial and bound her over to return yesterday.

Earlier, she told how she and Angela Richards had hidden under a bed at Richards' home when the police came. She told of being taken out of the house by a policeman to a mango tree in the yard and being told to "look down the road", then heard gunshots and Richards begging for her life

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

Riveting testimony in the third week
Crawle Trial

Sunday, November 20, 2005





On trial for murder: Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams, Sergeant Roderick Collier, Corporal Leford Gordon, Constable Patrick Coke, Constable Devon Bernard, and Constable Shane Lyons. The victims: Lewina Thompson, Angella Richards, Kirk Gordon, and Matthew James.

The defence lawyers: K Churchill Neita, Jacqueline Samuels-Brown and Christine Hudson; Valerie Neita-Robertson and Gladstone Wilson; Earl Witter and Errol Gentles; Oswest Senior-Smith and Althea McBean; Deborah Martin; and Robert Fletcher.

The prosecutors: DPP Kent Pantry, acting senior deputy DPP David Fraser, acting deputy DPP Donald Bryan, acting crown counsel Chester Crooks, and Terrence Williams, DPP of the British Virgin Islands.

The judge: Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe.

Monday:
In the most explosive testimony yet, a cop testifies that he personally saw SSP Reneto Adams plant a gun at the crime scene on May 7, 2003.

Constable Tyrone Brown, who was a member of the disbanded Crime Management Unit and who is now in witness protection abroad, said he was among four policemen who drove to the Windward Road area of east Kingston, where a Sergeant Ballen and Corporal Tingling collected the gun from an office at Homestead Road; and that Tingling put the gun in a yellow bag.

Brown testifies that Tingling fired the gun and collected the shells at two points during their journey to Crawle, and subsequently handed the firearm and shells to Adams, who placed the gun beside one of the dead men, and threw the spent shells on the floor.

Brown says under cross examination that he had not given full information in his previous statement of June 29, 2003 when challenged by Churchill Neita that he said then that Adams had shown two weapons to police saying they had been recovered at the scene.

Brown also denies, under cross-examination, that he turned crown witness to avoid prosecution for involvement in a US visa racket.

He was also challenged about the colour of the bag holding the gun, but the cop said he uses the colours yellow and brown interchangeably.

Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe reprimands lawyer Valerie Neita-Robertson for addressing the policeman by his alias 'Dutty Dog' Brown when challenging the veracity of his testimony, saying she was bringing the bar into disrepute.

Tuesday:
Brown was due back on the stand, but instead, at the request of the prosecution, the court was cleared of jurors to hear technical submissions on a procedural matter. The submissions lasted six hours.
However, the press, on request, delays reporting on the arguments.

Wednesday:
Wolfe denies application made by prosecution on Tuesday, and hands down ruling before calling in the jurors.
Another riveting day of testimony follows, this time from key prosecution witness, 11-year-old Shanice Stoddart, daughter of victim Lewina Thompson.

Shanice, who last Tuesday was too nervous to take the stand, was more composed this week, confidently delivering her testimony through three bathroom breaks.

She again appears in disguise, sporting a burgundy wig and lime green frock. An officer of the Victim Support Unit sits beside her for reassurance.

Shanice, eight years old at the time of the killings, testifies that she and Angela Richards hides under a bed after Bashington 'Chen Chen' Douglas, whom she also knew as 'Shortman', yelled out 'police', on the arrival of the cops at Crawle; that her mother went on the bed; that the police orders them from under the bed, squeezes Richards' neck for her to release Shanice; and of being taken outside to a mango tree and told to look the other way.

She testifies of hearing 'Angie' plead for her life, and then hearing a gunshot. She tries to leave through the gate, but was told by the policeman, who had put her under the tree to take another path.

At the start of her cross examination, Shanice, who has been relocated abroad under the witness protection programme, denies being coached to tell her story, and insists she told the truth.

At 4:00 pm, she advises the chief justice that her tummy hurts. He binds her over for further testimony the next day.

Thursday:
Shanice does not turn up in court, and though the prosecution advises three times that she was on her way, during the course of the day, she does not show up for Jacqueline Samuels-Brown to resume cross examination.

The hearings got underway 90 minutes after the scheduled 10:00 am start with testimony from other witnesses.
Sergeant Andrew Edwards of the police armoury, tells the court that Adams was issued a .45 pistol with serial number 1986180 in October 2000.

Paul Byfield, a CVM Television videographer, testifies that on May 7, 2003 at about 8:00 pm or 9:00 pm he took video shots of the house at Crawle, where the shootings occurred.
He said he recognised Adams and Constable Joshua Blake among other police personnel and was allowed to "shoot anywhere and anything".

An edited version of the videotape is played in court, which Byfield identifies as the footage he recorded.

Under cross examination by Samuels-Brown, the videographer said he could not remember seeing yellow police tape to protect the scene as he was able to walk freely on the scene.

He said too that he had interviewed Shanice on tape.
Another witness, Lloyd Christie, an investigator at the Police Public Complaints Authority, told the court that at about 8:30 am on May 9, 2003 he went to the house at Crawle, accompanied by another investigator, Vivian Richards, and took about five statements.

Christie said he saw more than 100 persons gathered on the premises and the roadway and about 30 police personnel on duty.

He said he returned to Crawle on May 16, 2003 and June 10, 2003 and found ten 5.56 mm spent shells inside and outside the house, which he took to the forensic laboratory.
Wolfe then adjourns the trial until Monday, when Shanice is expected back on the stand.

[Magnum]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

Thanks again.

Magnum.

[Sinco01]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

u r welcome !

[Sinco01]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

Live rounds found in dead man's pocket
published: Wednesday | November 2, 2005

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter


Senior Superintendent of Police, Reneto Adams. - NORMAN GRINDLEY /DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

A POLICEMAN testified yesterday that the day after four civilians were fatally shot at Kraal, Clarendon, he went to Johnson's Funeral Parlour at Four Paths, Clarendon, where he found four live rounds of ammunition in the pockets of one of the dead men.

Detective Corporal Franklin Brown made the disclosure while giving evidence at the trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and the five other policemen charged with the murder of two women and two men at Kraal on May 7, 2003.

The trial began in the Home Circuit Court on Monday before Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe and a 12-member jury.

The other policemen on trial are Corporal Patrick Coke, Constables Devon Bernard, Shane Lyons, Roderick Collier and Leford Gordon.

Those killed in Kraal were Lowena Richards, Angella Richards, Matthew James and Kirk Gordon.

Det Brown was the fifth witness called by the prosecution yesterday. He testified that he was a technician at the Scene of Crime Unit. He said about 8.45 p.m. on May 7, 2003 he and other policemen went to Kraal. He said there he saw Senior Superintendent Adams at the premises. He said he told SSP Adams that he had come to process the scene and SSP Adams said, "Okay Mr. Brown, allow us to remove the injured persons before photographing the scene." He said the injured were lifted from the premises but he did not see where they were taken.

FIREARMS IN HOUSE

He then took photographs inside and outside the house. He said he saw a rifle with a telescopic lens inside the hall and on a bed he saw several live cartridges. There was a 9mm Taurus pistol with a magazine containing six live rounds in a room. The firearms were tendered in evidence yesterday. Det. Brown said before he left the scene he asked that it be protected and SSP Adams was the senior officer there.

The next day he and Constable Joshua Black - now deceased - went to Johnson's Funeral Parlour where he photographed four bodies. He said the hands of the deceased were swabbed and fingerprinted. While he was fingerprinting one of the deceased males, he felt a bulge in the right front trousers pocket and found four live rounds in it. He placed them in a container and handed them over to Det. Sgt. Brown of the Bureau of Special Investigations.

Four witnesses said they identified the bodies at the Spanish Town Morgue on May 22, 2003. Anthony Gordon, a woodworker, who identified the body of his 27-year-old brother Kirk Gordon, an electrician, was thoroughly cross-examined. He said he knew Bashington Douglas also called 'Chen Chen', who was a friend of his. Asked if he was aware that Douglas was wanted by the police, the witness said yes. He said he did not know if Douglas was a member of the One Order gang .

The trial continues today.

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Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

KRAAL TRIAL: DAY 16 - UK forensic scientist barred from testifying
published: Tuesday | November 22, 2005

Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

STRONG OBJECTIONS yesterday from defence lawyer Jacqueline Samuels-Brown prevented a United Kingdom consultant forensic scientist from telling the court of the experiment which he conducted on a rifle taken from the crime scene at Kraal, Clarendon.

Dr. Geoffrey Maxwell Roe from the University of Liverpool had conducted the experiment on the rifle at the Supreme Court building on November 15.

The experiment was done after the rifle was tendered in evidence as an exhibit at the trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and the other five policemen charged with murder. The policemen have been on trial since October 31, for the murder of four civilians who were fatally shot at Kraal on May 7, 2003.

After identifying the rifle in a video clip in court and in photographs, Dr. Roe said that if a body was dragged past the strap of the rifle in the position in which the rifle was on the floor, it would not have remained in that position.

Mrs. Samuels-Brown objected to the evidence being led. She said the experiment was conducted after the firearm was tendered in evidence. She stressed that the court's permission was not sought for the experiment to be conducted. She said the defence was not aware that the experiment was done last week, and said further that the integrity of the so-called experiment was called into question. She said no proof was supplied to the defence that any body was dragged.

Kent Pantry, Q.C., Director of Public Prosecutions, who was examining the witness, said based on the objections raised, he would not pursue that line of evidence any further.

PLANTING OF EVIDENCE

The Crown is alleging that there was the planting of evidence at the crime scene, and the policemen were not acting in lawful self-defence when the civilians were fatally shot.

Dr. Roe said earlier in his testimony that the Forensic Science Service in London sent the case file to him. He said the file contained copies of statements from policemen from the Scenes of Crime Unit in the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

[Q3210]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

DAY 17 Policeman weeps giving evidence in court.
Please read report from today`s Gleaner:-

A POLICEMAN wept in court yesterday as he related how a civilian was shot dead while he was searching him in a house at Kraal, Clarendon, on May 7, 2003.

Constable Donovan Thompson said that at the time, the man had his hands bent at the elbow and his palms were "facing forward". Thompson said when he searched the man, he found no weapon. He bent down to go towards the man's knees when he heard explosions and the man's body slumped to his right side, he told the court.

He said he and the man were alone in the room when he was shot.

Thompson was testifying in the Home Circuit Court at the trial of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams and the five other policemen charged with the murder of four civilians at Kraal on May 7, 2003.

11-Y-O CROSS-EXAMINED

Eleven-year-old Shanice Stoddart completed her testimony under cross-examination yesterday. She admitted to being confused about the May 7, 2003 Kraal incident.

The witness was shown her statement of May 13, 2003, and it was pointed out that nowhere in the statement did she say that the policeman squeezed Angie's (Angela Richards - Chen Chen's girlfriend) throat, causing Angie to release her, before Shanice was led into the yard, a claim she made in testimony last week.

Constable Thompson said he went with the police party to Kraal and SSP Adams told them that they were going there for 'Chen Chen', whose real name is Bashington Douglas.

On the way, they stopped in May Pen where three informants went into minibus with them to Kraal. One of the informants disclosed where they could find Chen Chen. Sometime in the afternoon, SSP Adams received a call on his cellphone while they were at Kraal. Thompson said he overheard SSP Adams asking what he was wearing. When the phone call ended they went to the premises at Kraal.

He said when the five policemen who are now charged with SSP Adams left the bus, he heard gunshots and took cover in the back seat.

CHILD BROUGHT TO HIM

After the shooting, he got out of the minibus and went under a mango tree in the yard. While there, SSP Adams brought out a child to him. He said SSP Adams went back inside the house and he later heard gunshots behind the house.

Cross-examined by defence lawyers, Thompson admitted that in 2001 he was being investigated by Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford for a stolen motor car and licence plates. He said, too, that he was being investigated for a shooting incident.

Thompson, who now lives abroad, denied suggestions that it was in exchange for the matters to be not pursued that he was testifying. He denied being associated with the One Order gang in Spanish Town and also denied that SSP Adams had spoken to him about his association with unscrupulous persons in the Old Capital.

[Q3210]

Re: Clarendon bloodbath #2

the Observers version of the 17th day:-

ERICA VIRTUE, Observer writer
Wednesday, November 23, 2005

A policeman testified yesterday that even as he searched one of the victims of the Crawle killings and had found nothing that could bring harm to him or his colleagues, the man was shot dead.

Constable Donovan Thompson, an intelligence officer in the Special Anti-Crime Task Force (SACTF), did not name the victim or say who had fired the shot. But the clear implication was the fatal bullet came from the gun or guns of members of Senior Superintendent Reneto Adams' Crime Management Unit, who had gone to the small Clarendon village in May 2003 to arrest a wanted man, Bashington Douglas.

In another development at the trial yesterday, 11 year-old Shanice Stoddart confirmed to defence lawyers that she was intercepted by two Scotland Yard detectives during a bathroom break when she first gave testimony a week ago and that one of them had whispered something to her.

It did not come out in court what was said, but defence attorney Debra Martin, in coaxing the information out, said that Shanice did not want to speak to the police officers and that one of them had given her a bit of paper to write her answer to whatever it was that had been asked.

"The judge said I should not speak to anyone," Shanice apparently wrote.

During her testimony last week Shanice, nine at the time, related how she was in the death house and had hidden under a bed with Angella Thompson, one of the victims, when the police came. She said she was taken out into the yard by a policeman who had choked Thompson so that she would let go the child.

Yesterday, Constable Thompson, who several times wiped tears as he gave his evidence, testified that on the day of the incident he was among several policemen who had gone to Crawle in a blue and white Toyota Hiace bus driven by his immediate supervisor, Sergeant Que Facey.

According to Thompson, the group first reached to Crawle, but the wanted man, Douglas, whom informants had identified as 'Shortman', was not there.

They had gone to the nearest town to Crawle for lunch when at about 5:00 pm Adams received a call on his mobile phone. Thompson heard Adams' side of the conversation in which the senior policeman asked three questions:

"Is he there?"
"What is he wearing?"
"Are you sure?"

With that, the group headed back to Crawle.
At the house, the five policemen, who Thompson pointed out as sitting in the docks, emerged from the vehicle armed with M16 rifles. Thompson claimed that he and Facey, the driver, remained in the vehicle. He heard sporadic shooting.

When the shooting died down and he thought it was safe, Thompson said, he left the vehicle and went in the direction of the house and into the yard.

He was standing under a mango tree, Thompson said, when Adams brought him an apparently panicked child. Adams went back inside the house. Thompson claimed that he heard gunshots.

Thompson said he told the child - apparently Shanice - to run to her home and "do not stop".

It was after this that Thompson said he went to the house and where the man he was searching was shot.

As he entered the house, in a room directly in front of him, Thompson said he saw the figure of a woman, lying partially on a bed, with "blood spattered in the chest region, and a male figure lying on the floor".

He testified that he went to another room to his right.
There was another room to his left. While he did not see anyone at first, Thompson said, he "felt a figure peering on me through an open door".

"It was a man, and I went around, held him in his waist and I took him out," he said.

He said the man was between five feet, 11 inches and six feet tall and would have weighed about 200 pounds.
"My impression was that he was as scared as I was," Thompson told prosecuting attorneys.

Thompson began searching the man who was made to raise his arms, bent at the elbows, with palms upwards. He said he held the man on the right side of his waist, placing his own right leg between the man's legs. He patted the man on his left side then the right and the front pockets, which were searched.

"I found nothing that was detrimental to myself or my colleagues," Thompson said.

"I heard explosions, then I felt the man's body slump and hit me on my right side," Thompson said. ". My immediate reaction was to dive to the room from which I took the man, which would be to my left, and I shouted 'clear'," he testified.
He said he did not want the police to think that anyone other than police was in the room.

He left the room, related the incident to his supervisor and went inside the bus to regain his composure, said Thompson, who claimed he did not draw or fire the 9mm pistol with which he was armed.

Under cross examination from Valarie Neita Robertson, one of Adams' lawyers, Thompson admitted that he was under investigation for driving a Mazda 323 motor car with stolen licence plates. The plates belonging to a Portmore man.

He also admitted being under investigation for a shooting at Beckford and Orange streets in downtown Kingston and was being investigated by Superintendent Cornwall 'Bigga' Ford for driving a stolen vehicle.

He denied knowing if SSP Donald Pusey had interceded on his behalf. He also denied that, as part of giving false testimony, the shooting case would be dropped.

Asked if he was living abroad, he said 'no', but said 'yes', when Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe asked if he was staying abroad.

Thompson also admitted inconsistencies in his early statements and the evidence he gave but rejected being seen in the company of members of Spanish Town's notorious One Order gang and that Adams had spoken to him about being in the company of "undesirables".