A high-profile murder trial involving six current and former members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) reached a critical procedural turn this week, when a judge granted prosecutors permission to present graphic crime scene imagery to the jury over repeated pushback from the defense team. The case centers on the fatal 2013 shooting of three men in St. Andrew, a confrontation that authorities say unfolded during a police operation, and has drawn intense scrutiny over the conduct of Jamaican law enforcement.
The six accused officers are Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose, and Richard Lynch. Fullerton faces an additional charge of filing a false statement to the Independent Commission of Investigations, Jamaica’s anti-corruption and police oversight body. The incident that sparked the trial dates back to January 12, 2013, when Matthew Lee, Ucliffe Dyer, and Mark Allen were killed during a shootout on Acadia Drive in St. Andrew.
According to prosecution allegations, the three victims plus a fourth unidentified man were traveling in a blue Mitsubishi Outlander when they were flagged down by officers conducting a targeted operation. Prosecutors claim the driver initially hesitated to pull over, and after finally stopping, multiple men exited the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with the responding officers. The shootout ended with Lee, Dyer and Allen killed at the scene, while the fourth man managed to escape. This narrative is contested by the defense, which has challenged the prosecution’s evidence throughout the early phases of the trial.
The key witness in this phase of the proceeding is a former JCF detective constable who was originally assigned to document the 2013 crime scene. The witness left the force years ago to relocate overseas for new employment, and his current work commitments made an in-person court appearance impossible. Following a special procedural application, the court approved the witness to testify remotely via pre-recorded video link, allowing the seven-member jury to view his evidence.
The witness confirmed that he was the official photographer for the Acadia Drive crime scene, and also told the court that the crime scene extended beyond Acadia Drive to include portions of nearby Evans Avenue and Roxborough Avenue. During Tuesday’s proceedings, the jury and witness viewed a DVD containing more than 30 marked crime scene photographs. The vast majority of the images show spent bullet casings, mostly 5.56mm and 9mm rounds, scattered across the ground, alongside markings placed next to red stains the witness identified as blood spots and dried blood trails on concrete. Other notable items captured in the photos include a black and grey peaked cap, a leather wallet, and a fragment of what appears to be a leather belt.
When testimony began on Monday, the former detective acknowledged a critical gap in his evidence: he could not confirm that a spent casing presented to court in an evidence envelope matches the casing he originally collected and sent to the government forensic laboratory for ballistic testing. When pressed by lead prosecutor Kathy-Ann Pyke to recall his actions on the day of the 2013 shooting, the witness said the 13-year gap made independent memory impossible. He explained that he relies on his original post-incident statement to refresh his recollection of the event, noting that written documentation is the standard method for preserving crime scene details.
“I made notes at the scene. We preserve memory by writing statements, and that is why I refer to my statement and not memory. This statement refreshes my memory on what I wrote but not what I did on that particular day,” he told the court Monday.
The defense team, led by defense attorneys Hugh Wildman, John Jacobs, and Althea Grant-Coppin, had formally objected to the jury being shown the graphic DVD imagery ahead of Tuesday’s session, but their objection was overruled by the judge. The trial is scheduled to resume proceedings on Wednesday, with additional evidence and witness testimony expected in the coming days.