Cops lie, accused freed
April 19, 2007
A man has been freed of gun charges because Supreme Court Judge Martin Gayle found that two policemen had told lies in their evidence in the Gun Court.
"The police must stop telling lies when giving evidence," the judge remarked when he freed 21-year-old Kenneth Ellis, higgler of Gordon Pen, St. Catherine.
Ellis, who was represented by attorney-at-law Oswald James, was charged with illegal possession of firearm and ammunition. Ellis was arrested in December 2006 in Gordon Pen during a joint police and military operation.
Firearm under mattress
The allegations are that the police went into a house and found a firearm under a mattress on a bed and five bullets in a clothes basket.
The policemen had testified that Ellis was the only person occupying the board room in which the gun was found, and was the only person there when it was found.
During cross-examination, Mr. James suggested to the policemen that a woman who was at the house at the time of the incident was arrested and taken to the police station, but they denied the suggestion.
Ellis did not testify but he called two witnesses who said the house in which the gun was allegedly found was owned by the woman. The witnesses said the woman was also taken into custody at the time when the gun was allegedly found.
One of the witnesses said she was related to the woman and she went to the station after the woman was arrested. The witness said the woman was subsequently released by the police.
Ellis was freed on Tuesday after spending four months in custody.
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
