Attorneys clash over apartment involved in cops’ murder trial
Attorneys representing the six policemen on trial for murder on Wednesday argued that the apartment complex where Agriculture Minister Floyd Green lived in 2013 is not part of the evidence in the case and that its current occupants are not witnesses.
The issue arose after prosecutor Kathy-Ann Pyke objected to defence attorney Hugh Wildman’s cross-examination of an Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) officer. Wildman questioned the officer about previous visits to the apartment, his recent attempt to gain access for a follow-up visit and whether he had been communicating with Pyke while giving evidence.
The officer acknowledged that he had sought permission on Monday to re-enter the apartment but said he did not do so at Pyke’s direction. He also insisted he had not spoken with the prosecutor since taking the witness stand, although he confirmed they had visited the location together before his testimony.
Pyke told trial Judge Sonia Bertram-Linton that Wildman’s line of questioning raised concerns about how the attorney had obtained information relating to access to the apartment.
“How did he come to have that knowledge? Is it that he has been interacting with a witness for the prosecution or someone who has access to property? There is a rule that says you don’t talk to witnesses for the Crown, and by extension, it would mean that you don’t interface with persons who are connected or have dealings or evidence related to the Crown. I had indicated to the court that we would be making a certain application but that application was dependent on us gaining access,” Pyke said in relation to plans she had to seek approval from the court for the agriculture minister to accompany her during a revisit to the apartment.
Earlier this week, the apartment’s current occupants refused a request by Pyke and the Indecom officer to conduct a re-enactment of Green’s observations during the January 12, 2013 incident, citing privacy concerns.
“Mr Wildman is asking questions which would seem to be substantiated by the witness. He said something about access being denied. I am wondering what it is Mr Wildman doing behind the scene as it regards to the witnesses for the Crown or particular residence. You are not supposed to speak to witnesses for the Crown, who are on the back of the indictment,” Pyke said.
Althea Grant-Coppin, another member of the defence team, which also includes John Jacobs, stood up to challenge Pyke’s statement. Grant-Coppin was adamant that there was no witness on the back of the indictment who is connected to the apartment.
“I do not appreciate what has been said. We perused all the witnesses on the back of the indictment and they are not connected in any way to that specific apartment. Thus, all of what my friend has said is erroneous,” Grant-Coppin told the Judge.
Wildman also rejected Pyke’s claims and defended his decision to raise concerns about possible communication between the prosecutor and the Indecom officer.
“If information has come to me that Miss Pyke is communicating with a witness while being cross-examined, I have a duty to raise it in court. Every time this court rises, this court tells the jury and the witnesses not to have any discussions with anyone, including the lawyers. If information has come to me belatedly that Miss Pyke and the Indecom officer are communicating outside of court, I have a duty to bring it to the court’s attention,” Wildman said.
The agriculture minister is one of two eyewitnesses to the January 12, 2013 shooting deaths of Matthew Lee, Ucliffe Dyer and Mark Allen. The three were killed during an alleged shootout with the police on Acadia Drive, close to the intersection with Evans Avenue.
Green and another resident of the apartment complex—a female—are the only two alleged eyewitnesses to certain activities surrounding the incident. Green and the female witness maintained that they did not see the actual shooting of the men, but claimed that they saw when the men were alive and then they became motionless.
Green said he heard explosions, which prompted him to go to his window and look down to see what was unfolding.
During Wednesday’s cross-examination, Wildman also asked the Indecom officer whether he had provided Pyke with the telephone number of the apartment’s current occupants.
“Any number I gave to Miss Pyke was long before but since I have been on the stand I don’t speak to Miss Pyke,” the witness said.
On Tuesday, the officer of Indecom contradicted parts of the testimony of the female eyewitness who once lived in the apartment complex.
The Indecom officer told the seven-member jury that he initiated a meeting with the female witness inside the lawyers’ lounge months ago. Also present inside the lounge, which adjoins the courtroom, was Pyke. At that time, the woman was about to take the witness stand and her statement in the case was placed on a table in front of all three.
According to the Indecom officer, Pyke did not initiate that meeting. He claimed that during the meeting, he was the one talking to the witness and not Pyke. He also said that he did not hear Pyke telling the witness questions that were likely to be asked of her in court.
During that meeting, Wildman entered the room and disrupted the proceedings, accused Pyke of engaging in something not proper as the witness came to start giving evidence and therefore the prosecutor should not be taking her through any statement. He also raised concerns that the Indecom officer should not have been in the meeting either, as he is also a witness in the case.
Wildman remarked that he was just in time to catch him and Pyke in the act.
The officer responded saying that, “You did not catch me doing anything. Both of you [Wildman and Pyke] were going on and on and using all kinds of language at each other. It was embarrassing.”
He rejected Wildman’s suggestion that he and Pyke were plotting the downfall of the cops in a private meeting, similar to when the Jews plotted against Christ.
When the female witness took the stand in March, Wildman tackled her about the meeting.
The witness told the attorney that it was Pyke who initiated the meeting in the room and that the Indecom officer pretty much sat there silently.
She said the prosecutor was simply preparing her witness during the meeting.
“She was alerting me that if I forgot things, I could always refer to my statement. She was giving me examples because I have never been to court before. She was preparing her witness,” the witness said in March.
On that occasion, Wildman asked her if they were discussing the evidence she was to give in court.
“We were discussing my statement,” the witness said.
On trial are Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton and Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose and Richard Lynch. Corporal Fullerton is also charged with making a false statement to the Independent Commission of Investigations.