KINGSTON, Jamaica — A police officer accused of using excessive force in an alleged baton assault will return to court in May 2026. Maurice Hylton appeared before Judge Paula Blake Powell in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday, facing charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The incident, captured in a 2024 video, reportedly occurred on July 30, 2024, along Shortwood Road in St Andrew, where Hylton allegedly struck a man in the head with a baton. The Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) conducted an inquiry, leading the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to recommend charges against Hylton. Representatives from Indecom, along with two police witnesses and the complainants, were present in court. The case has been delayed due to a cross-case filing, where both Hylton and the complainants have lodged separate legal actions against each other. Hylton’s case, in which he is the complainant, has already proceeded to trial, scheduled for May 19, 2026, after mediation efforts failed. Judge Blake Powell has set the Indecom case for case management on the same date, with the trial judge expected to rule on the initial case before addressing the Indecom matter.