By ANDREA DOWNER, Staff ReporterSENIOR SUPERINTENDENT RENETO Adams and the five other members of the disbanded Crime Management Unit (CMU) were each released on $2 million bail with two sureties after being formally charged with four counts of murder in the Home Circuit Court yesterday.
Those charged jointly with Adams are Patrick Cooke, Shayne Lyons, Roderick Collier, Lenford Gordon and Devon Bernard, who is also facing seven counts of murder for killings in Braeton in 2000.
Constable Cecil McCalla, assistant general secretary of the Police Federation told THE STAR most of the police officers got assistance with their bail from "inside their divisions." Constable McCalla later said that the assistance was not from police officers because under law they cannot post bail. The men were charged following the shooting deaths of four persons in Kraal, Clarendon, in May last year by the Adams-led CMU. The CMU unit had gone in search of Bassington Douglas and a gang said to be plotting to kidnap and kill persons from a nearby gold mining operation. The four persons killed were Lewena Thompson, Angella Richards, Kirk Gordon and Matthew James.
Justice Mahadev Dukharan told the accused men to surrender their travel documents to the police and said they should not talk to the witnesses. They were told not to visit Kraal in Clarendon, the district where the murders took place, unless they first obtain a court order. The six must also report to the Commissioner's office every Friday.
The DPP's office sought to muzzle Adams as a condition of bail. Paula Llewellyn, Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, said the DPP "views with concern certain statements made by SSP Adams via the electronic and print media." She said the DPP considered that some of Adams' statements have had the effect of being intimidating to some witnesses.
Justice Mahadev dismissed the DPP's request as absurd. "It is the height of absurdity to argue conditions of bail on silence," he said. "Bearing in mind, freedom of expression, how can you stop persons from speaking?" he said.
He acknowledged, however, that it was fine for SSP Adams to speak publicly about the case up to the day before court started but now, "persons will have to temper their statements."
Llewellyn said she will be able to prove the guilt of the accused men from 113 statements from civilian witnesses. Along with the statements of two police officers present at the shooting, the pathologist reports, ballistic and forensic evidence from experts.
The defence team was led by K. Churchill Neita in the absence of Mrs. Jacqueline Samuels-Brown. The team also includes Earl Witter, Valrie Neita-Robertson and Oswest Senior Smith.
Neita told the court the defence was ill-prepared for the day's proceedings as they have not yet been given copies of the statements from the "vaunted" 113 witnesses that the prosecution claims to have.
The six men are to reappear in court on June 3 when the case will again be mentioned.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Shields and Detective Clive Timmonds of Scotland Yard were both in court observing the proceedings.
