Author: Paul Henry
Source: Jamaica Observer
Details of the changes have not yet been made public but they are designed to nullify the 1993 Privy Council ruling that held that persons could not be executed if they remained on death row for more than five years.
Yesterday, Information Minister Daryl Vaz announced that Cabinet had approved the changes and these would be presented to Parliament shortly.
But Vaz made it clear that the amendment will target the Pratt and Morgan ruling.
"The amendment is to ensure that the conditions of prisons in which inmates are detained pending the execution of death sentences are not held to be inconsistent with, or in contravention of, the protection against inhumane or degrading punishment or other treatment," Vaz told journalists.
This came months after A.J. Nicholson, the opposition spokesman on justice, had told The Gleaner that the Charter of Rights was yet to be voted on because of issues regarding the death penalty.
According to Nicholson, a bill which would avoid the Pratt and Morgan ruling and allow for the retention of the death penalty would have to be tabled in Parliament before the vote on the Charter of Rights could be taken.
He pointed to Barbados, which had passed legislation to nullify the Pratt and Morgan ruling.
"If you are going to go the Barbados route, you have to make either some changes to the charter or you bring a separate bill which would do away with the five-year stricture, because the Parliament voted that we should retain the death penalty," Nicholson said....
Author: Arthur Hall
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
For the second time since Coke was arrested and extradited to the US, prosecutors have placed sealed documents related to the case in the vault of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The latest filing took place on Monday and, as usual, prosecutors gave no explanation as to what is contained in the sealed document. A similar sealed document had been placed in the vault in mid-July.
At that time, legal sources in the US dismissed claims that the sealed document could be any plea deal involving Coke, who is facing a lengthy prison sentence if convicted of charges of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs and trafficking in firearms.
Possible indictments
According to the legal sources, the sealed documents could be indictments of those individuals who assisted Coke during the 10 months that the Jamaican Government delayed his extradition from Jamaica.
"It could also be a product of the Department of Justice investigation into the Manatt FARA filings," a US-based attorney said.
The Jamaican Government had spent months haggling with its American counterpart over issues related to the extradition request....
Author: Daraine Luton
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Harold Bailey
Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Alicia Dunkley
Source: Jamaica Observer
The other case was that of 29-year-old truck driver Osbourne Watson of Patrick City, St Andrew, who was freed of illegal possession of five rounds of ammunition.
In the case of the schoolboy, it was his boisterous behaviour which forced the police to search his mobile phone, on which a gun was displayed.
He pleaded guilty Monday when he appeared before Justice Roy Jones in the Gun Court. He was 17 when he committed the offence.
Crown Counsel Nadine Flowers, outlining the facts of the case, said that on June 27, 2008, Omar Kelly, 18, was at Half-Way Tree Square, St Andrew. He began behaving boisterously and the police reprimanded him. He was in possession of a mobile phone which displayed the picture of a gun. The police took the phone from him and searched it.
The police questioned him about the gun and he told them where it could be found. The police accompanied him to his home in Fletcher's Land, Kingston, where he showed them a home-made gun underneath his bed. He was then arrested and charged.
Justice Jones, in sentencing Kelly, said he had to send a strong message because firearm offences were too prevalent in Jamaica.
Conflicting evidence
In the other case, Watson was in bed with his two pregnant girlfriends when the police raided his house and allegedly found five rounds of ammunition in a microwave....
Author: Barbara Gayle
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
Clarke, who represents the Central Westmoreland constituency, said he has lost his appetite for food and has been having difficulty sleeping since the collision in St Catherine which killed one man.
"If I found myself in a situation where this would cause me not to be able to carry out my duties in terms of representation and looking after their (constituents') welfare, I would go. I do think about that. I am human," Clarke said.
Clarke, who turns 70 this year, is into his first term as member of parliament for Central Westmoreland. He had served three terms as MP in North East St Elizabeth.
Still in shock
Clarke disclosed that he was still in shock after the tragedy and revealed that demitting office was something he was pondering if his emotional state compromised his effectiveness as a political representative.
Since the accident, which claimed the life of 23-year-old Derron Nicholson, the People's National Party veteran said he was "really traumatised".
"I have had my driver's licence for 50 years and it is the first time that I have ever been in an accident," Clarke said.
He told The Gleaner that, despite not speaking to the relatives of Nicholson, he was profoundly sorry for what happened.
"I know how the relatives of the guy feels and I sympathise with them sincerely. If it was an ordinary accident, you would just say it is an accident, but when somebody has died, it does bring that level of trauma.
"I don't think the relatives are more traumatised than I am," Clarke said.
Police are still carrying out investigations to determine whether Clarke should be charged with manslaughter.
The former government minister, now opposition spokesman on agriculture, said he could "only hope for the best in terms of my own situation" and expressed his "profound sympathy to the the relatives of the deceased".
Said Clarke: "It is not just not being able to sleep. I have virtually lost my appetite. I have not been eating ... . You go to bed to sleep but you dream and you wonder.
"Sometimes I say, 'Oh my God, I wish it was a dream and I was waking up out of it'."
If Clarke is charged, he would be the second parliamentarian in nearly 20 years to be accused of death by dangerous driving.
In 1992, Errol Anderson, a former minister of national security, was charged with manslaughter but later acquitted. The charges against him had arisen from the deaths of two women along Seaview Road in Stony Hill, St Andrew.
Clarke would be hoping that he does not meet the fate of Anderson by being hauled before the courts.
In the meantime, he told The Gleaner that prayers and support from several persons have been his greatest comfort....
Author: Daraine Luton
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Paul A Reid
Source: Jamaica Observer
The probe is also one of four the Independent Commission of Investigations took charge of yesterday.
Information surrounding the incident has been unclear in the absence of a statement from the police information arm, the Constabulary Communication Network.
However, The Gleaner understands that the 24-year-old Williams, who was stationed at the police armoury at Elletson Road, was with a group of policemen, both from Kingston and St Ann, on board the party boat off the coast of Ocho Rios Sunday night.
It is alleged that during the party Williams discharged his firearm in the air. A policeman stationed at Ocho Rios told reporters Sunday night that he warned Williams for prosecution for the act. Later, Williams again discharged his firearm in the air, resulting in the police on land being alerted.
The police later picked up Williams at the pier and escorted him to the Ocho Rios Police Station, where his gun was seized and he was being processed.
Williams' father, Pastor Devon Williams, after speaking to the police Sunday night, said he learnt that the constable retrieved the empty firearm from a desk and ran out of the building and was chased by other policemen on to Evelyn Street.
Shots were fired and Constable Williams and another policeman were hit. Williams died while the other policeman was treated at hospital.
On Monday, sources indicated that Constable Williams might have been shot by another policeman who was driving by, saw the chase and opened fire at the fleeing figure.
Pastor Williams said his son was shot three times in the upper body and neck.
The shooting, which took place around 10:30 p.m., drew a large crowd that lingered until early yesterday morning....
Author: Carl Gilchrist
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
Author: Alesia Edwards
Source: Jamaica Observer