Feb 22 set for immunity certs matter in Clarke case
Published:Wednesday | December 6, 2023 | 12:13 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A preliminary hearing date to determine the validity of the “good-faith certificates” in the Keith Clarke murder case has been set for February 22, next year, amid a stern warning from Justice Vinette Graham-Allen that nothing barring an act of God will stall the matter.
The date was fixed on Tuesday in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston during a plea and case management hearing.
The hearing is scheduled to run for three weeks.
Justice Graham-Allen, in the meantime, again highlighted the significance of getting the matter off the ground.
“It is of paramount importance to this country and must be dealt with, especially in light of the state of emergency,” she said.
Clarke, a 63-year-old businessman, died after being shot 21 times during a midnight raid led by the Jamaican military at his family home in Kirkland Heights, St Andrew, on May 27, 2010.
Three Jamaica Defence Force soldiers – Corporal Odel Buckley, Lance Corporal Greg Tinglin, and Private Arnold Henry – were arrested and charged in connection with the alleged murder.
The soldiers, however, have maintained that they were given certificates of immunity by then Minister of National Security Peter Bunting, which shielded them from prosecution.
The matter, which had been stalled since April 2018, was placed back on the trial list following a Court of Appeal ruling in January in which a voir dire was ordered.
The appeal court had ruled that a voir dire, or a trial within the trial, must be conducted by a judge alone to determine whether the director of public prosecutions can rebut the certificates of good faith issued by the minister.
The outcome of that hearing will determine whether the case will proceed to trial.
The soldiers had reportedly gone in search of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, the now-convicted Jamaican drug lord who is in a United States prison, when Clarke was killed.
In the meantime, an April 3 trial date has been scheduled in the event that the matter proceeds to that stage.
Bail was subsequently extended for the defendants.
Peter Champagnie, KC, represents Buckley, while Valerie Neita-Robertson, KC, appears for Tingling and attorney-at-law Linton Gordon represents Henry.