JANICE ALLEN CASE - Lawyer says client being harassed
June 07, 2006
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW RICHARD Small told the Court of Appeal yesterday that there were attempts of bribery and intimidation by certain forces to prevent Janice Allen's mother from pursuing her case.
Mr. Small, who is representing Millicent Forbes, mother of the 13-year-old deceased, is seeking to have a jury's verdict quashed.
According to him, Ms. Forbes was even offered $150,000 but she refused it. He said that she and members of her family were also intimidated.
The girl was shot dead at her gate in Trench Town, West Kingston, in April 2000. The police reported that the girl was shot in crossfire between the police and gunmen. However, eyewitnesses gave statements in which they contended that the girl was shot after the shooting had ceased. Police Constable Rohan Allen (no relation to the deceased) was charged with murder arising from the girl's death. He was freed on March 15, 2004, in the Portland Circuit Court after the Crown offered no evidence against him. The judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
WITNESS OFF THE ISLAND...
Author: Barbara Gayle
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
