Murder trial of councillor's son stalls
March 15, 2007
THE murder trial of Ricardo Lawrence, alias 'Devil', son of People's National Party (PNP) councillor Ned 'Enos' Lawrence (Dela-Vega-City Division, Spanish Town), stalled in the Home Circuit Court on Tuesday because of the absence of murder scene photographs.
Devil, a reputed member of the Spanish Town-based Clansman gang, is, along with Jason Brown, also said to be a member of the gang, with the murder of former Clansman member Errol 'Cracker' Miller, who was shot dead along Monk Street in Spanish Town on July 19, 2005.
On Tuesday, defence counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson told the court that she was not prepared to start the trial because the photos of the location where the murder allegedly took place were not yet delivered to her, although she had requested same from the Crown.
Lisa Palmer, senior deputy director of public prosecutions, said the crown was not in possession of the photos because the police's Scenes of Crime unit did not make them available because of problems with resources.
Palmer told the court that the Scenes of Crime unit, which has been faced with a shortage of material to
print photos, usually wait for a trial to get started before printing crime scene photos.
"I believe this has been a problem for some time now," Palmer said.
However, Terrence Sancko, the superintendent in charge of the Scenes of Crime unit, denied that there was a shortage of printing material in his department.
"We have more than enough material to print photos," Sancko said. "It's not that bad. It's something people always tell the court. We usually do not print all the photos but wait until they are [requested]."
Meanwhile, the police believe that Miller was killed because he and other members had rebelled against the Clansman gang and formed a group called Renegade.
Brown, otherwise called City Puss, was arrested in September 2005 and Lawrence nabbed two months later.
The trial of the two is now set to start on June 18.
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
