A judge in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court gave investigators from the Constant Spring Police Station a second ‘final date’ to produce a video that they claim shows two men entering a truck in Manor Park in the parish and stealing cash.
Edward White and Donald Brown have been appearing in court for almost a year and each time they were told that the police would be bringing the recordings of their alleged crime to court.
According to a police report in April last year, the eventual complainant visited a bank to collect money, which was subsequently placed in a backpack.
The complainant drove to Manor Park for some purchases, and left the backpack containing the cash in a vehicle.
Upon returning, it was discovered that the backpack was missing.
The complainant quickly contacted the police, who started an investigation, leading to the arrest of the now accused men.
Last year, the matter was before a parish judge who had been demanding that the video be presented to the crown. A final date was given in September for the video to be presented. But that did not happen.
On Friday when the matter appeared before another parish judge, Carlo Mason, it was order that the video be presented to the crown on or before May 10. The judge also made it clear that it was the final date for the police to present the video.
The footage is key to the prosecution’s case, as the complainant did not see who went into his truck and stole the cash.
The attorneys in the matter, Miguel Lorne and Cecile Ashton, are concerned that the video footage which they were told about since July of 2023, has still not made it to court.
In addition, Judge Mason ordered that the defence counsels should review the video footage out of court before the next court date.
In court, Ashton informed Mason that a judge on a previous occasion last year, had given a final date for the footage to be presented by the police.
She also petitioned the judge to retain the matter, and asked that the same prosecutor be present at the next hearing in order for the matter to be conducted with continuity.
Judge Mason, however, could not retained the matter for the next court date, as he was filling in from another court, to which he has to return.
