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A district constable's dilemma
Did the police wrongfully charge him with murder?
BY PAUL HENRY Co-ordinator — Crime/Court Desk henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, May 12, 2013
THE attorney for a district constable who left his home to secure a nearby crime scene has expressed concerns about a ruling by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that the 43-year-old man be charged with murder.
According to attorney Vincent Wellesley, his client, Sheian Tucker, was ordered charged despite conflicting statements about the incident and the suspect's identity, along with other "material discrepancies".
"Why would a policeman who committed a murder want to protect the integrity of the crime scene?" Wellesley asked during an interview with the Jamaica Observer yesterday. "Wouldn't he want people to go and pick up shells and contaminate the scene? Several witnesses said he was there backing off the crowd to protect the scene."
Wellesley added: "The DPP is sending the wrong message to the police that if you are home and something happens, do not get involved."
Tucker, who is assigned to the Spanish Town Police Station in St Catherine, has been charged with the shooting death of Leroy Reid, also known as 'Blacks', on White Lane in Naggo Head, Portmore, St Catherine on the night of April 30.
Statements were taken from three purported eyewitnesses — two of them Reid's relatives, 15 and six years old, who were travelling in his vehicle, and a 28-year-old female bystander.
According to Wellesley, the teen gave a statement to the police in which she said that Tucker had stopped the vehicle in which they were travelling and stuck a black-coloured gun through the window and fired on Reid. She said Reid drove off and Tucker ran after the vehicle and again fired on Reid.
According to the statement, the teen said the incident lasted six seconds and that the area was dark.
Wellesley said the six-year-old said he saw Tucker pointing a gun at Reid. Both witnesses had known Tucker prior to the incident.
The 28-year-old, according to Wellesley, said she heard a single shot and turned to see two men firing into the driver's side of 'Blacks's vehicle. The men then walked towards her, one pointed the gun at her, used an expletive, then both men ran off.
She said she saw Tucker coming up from Kingsley Avenue and asked who were in the vehicle before instructing that the police be called. The woman said that Tucker borrowed a phone and also instructed people on the scene not to touch the body.
The woman identified the men to the police, telling them that one was short and fat with a cornrow hairstyle, while the other was tall, brown and slim and sported a similar hairdo.
In his statement to the police, Tucker said that he was in his living room with his family when he heard an explosion. He said he placed his .38 revolver in his pocket and headed off in the direction the sound had come from. At the scene, he said he heard people saying that 'Blacks' was killed and that he called the police after they told him that no one had done so.
Wellesley said that the police have confirmed that Tucker had placed the emergency call.
Around 2:30 am the police went to Tucker's house, took his gun, and later a statement.
Seven 9mm spent shells were said to have been recovered from the crime scene.
Wellesley pointed out that the type of gun used by Tucker doesn't discharge its spent shells but retains them in the cylinder after the weapon is fired.
"What is shocking," the attorney said, "is that the DPP's office must have read these conflicting statements when the ruling was made that he be charged with murder. Can you believe it?"
Tucker appeared in the Gun Court Division of the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday where he was offered $1 million bail with one or two sureties. As part of his bail condition, Tucker is to report to the Bridgeport police on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
He's to return to court on May 28. The file is incomplete.
During the bail hearing, Wellesley reportedly asked which of the statements the Crown intended to rely on in the prosecution of Tucker. He also questioned how the prosecution intends to "reconcile" the fact that Tucker carries a .38 revolver and that the spent shells found on the scene were of 9mm calibre.
He also chided the police for being too lazy to search for the two men spoken of by the 28-year-old witness. But he faulted, too, the office of the DPP for not instructing the police to conduct further investigations before ruling that Tucker should be charged on what he said was "tenuous evidence".
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2T7FLVJBC
Did the police wrongfully charge him with murder?
BY PAUL HENRY Co-ordinator — Crime/Court Desk henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, May 12, 2013
THE attorney for a district constable who left his home to secure a nearby crime scene has expressed concerns about a ruling by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that the 43-year-old man be charged with murder.
According to attorney Vincent Wellesley, his client, Sheian Tucker, was ordered charged despite conflicting statements about the incident and the suspect's identity, along with other "material discrepancies".
"Why would a policeman who committed a murder want to protect the integrity of the crime scene?" Wellesley asked during an interview with the Jamaica Observer yesterday. "Wouldn't he want people to go and pick up shells and contaminate the scene? Several witnesses said he was there backing off the crowd to protect the scene."
Wellesley added: "The DPP is sending the wrong message to the police that if you are home and something happens, do not get involved."
Tucker, who is assigned to the Spanish Town Police Station in St Catherine, has been charged with the shooting death of Leroy Reid, also known as 'Blacks', on White Lane in Naggo Head, Portmore, St Catherine on the night of April 30.
Statements were taken from three purported eyewitnesses — two of them Reid's relatives, 15 and six years old, who were travelling in his vehicle, and a 28-year-old female bystander.
According to Wellesley, the teen gave a statement to the police in which she said that Tucker had stopped the vehicle in which they were travelling and stuck a black-coloured gun through the window and fired on Reid. She said Reid drove off and Tucker ran after the vehicle and again fired on Reid.
According to the statement, the teen said the incident lasted six seconds and that the area was dark.
Wellesley said the six-year-old said he saw Tucker pointing a gun at Reid. Both witnesses had known Tucker prior to the incident.
The 28-year-old, according to Wellesley, said she heard a single shot and turned to see two men firing into the driver's side of 'Blacks's vehicle. The men then walked towards her, one pointed the gun at her, used an expletive, then both men ran off.
She said she saw Tucker coming up from Kingsley Avenue and asked who were in the vehicle before instructing that the police be called. The woman said that Tucker borrowed a phone and also instructed people on the scene not to touch the body.
The woman identified the men to the police, telling them that one was short and fat with a cornrow hairstyle, while the other was tall, brown and slim and sported a similar hairdo.
In his statement to the police, Tucker said that he was in his living room with his family when he heard an explosion. He said he placed his .38 revolver in his pocket and headed off in the direction the sound had come from. At the scene, he said he heard people saying that 'Blacks' was killed and that he called the police after they told him that no one had done so.
Wellesley said that the police have confirmed that Tucker had placed the emergency call.
Around 2:30 am the police went to Tucker's house, took his gun, and later a statement.
Seven 9mm spent shells were said to have been recovered from the crime scene.
Wellesley pointed out that the type of gun used by Tucker doesn't discharge its spent shells but retains them in the cylinder after the weapon is fired.
"What is shocking," the attorney said, "is that the DPP's office must have read these conflicting statements when the ruling was made that he be charged with murder. Can you believe it?"
Tucker appeared in the Gun Court Division of the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday where he was offered $1 million bail with one or two sureties. As part of his bail condition, Tucker is to report to the Bridgeport police on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
He's to return to court on May 28. The file is incomplete.
During the bail hearing, Wellesley reportedly asked which of the statements the Crown intended to rely on in the prosecution of Tucker. He also questioned how the prosecution intends to "reconcile" the fact that Tucker carries a .38 revolver and that the spent shells found on the scene were of 9mm calibre.
He also chided the police for being too lazy to search for the two men spoken of by the 28-year-old witness. But he faulted, too, the office of the DPP for not instructing the police to conduct further investigations before ruling that Tucker should be charged on what he said was "tenuous evidence".
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2T7FLVJBC