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SSP Lewis admits to 'mistake' in witness statement
Published: Friday | July 26, 2013 10 Comments
Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis yesterday admitted in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court that part of the witness statement he gave in the corruption case against his colleague James Forbes and businessman Bruce Bicknell was not true.The admission by Lewis, who heads the Police Traffic Division, came after defence attorney K.D. Knight read a section of the statement in which the senior policeman said he assisted Sergeant Delon Lewis in having Bicknell's arrest on bribery charges recorded in the diary at the Elletson Road Police Station.
"Was that the truth?" Knight asked.
"No, sir," SSP Lewis replied.
However, he quickly sought to clarify his answer, telling the court "it was a mistake" after Knight informed him of the consequences of providing a misleading statement.
"It was a slip of the tongue," Lewis insisted.
"Did you change your position from 'not true' to 'mistake' before I read out the consequences or after?" Knight queried.
"Before," Lewis replied, causing Knight and co-counsel Peter Champagnie to point out to presiding magistrate, Stephanie Jackson-Haisley, that the senior policeman had contradicted himself.
Bicknell and Forbes are on trial for attempting to pervert the course of justice, arising from allegations that the Tank-Weld boss tried to bribe Sergeant Jubert Llewellyn with $2,000 after he was pulled over for speeding along the Sir Florizel Glasspole Highway last April.
The case centres around allegations that they arranged a meeting at Forbes' St Andrew office four days later to have the traffic offence disposed of.
In his testimony, punctuated by frequent outbursts of laughter, Lewis detailed how he became involved in the case and gave evidence that he instructed sergeants Llewellyn and Lewis to put the bribery case against Bicknell before the courts.
told to do a report
He said he also instructed Lewis to write a report on the circumstances surrounding Bicknell's arrest. But he said this, too, was not done, and several days later, a deputy superintendent attached to the Anti-Corruption Branch visited him at his Elletson Road offices.
"They [instructions] were not followed, and if they were followed, I would not have been here," he told Crown counsel Brodrick Smith during examination-in-chief.
He told Knight during cross-examination that both men would face departmental charges at the end of the trial for disobeying a senior officer.
The Traffic Division head testified that while the proper procedure to dispose of cases was through the courts, there were no policies or regulations that prevented senior officers in the Jamaica Constabulary Force from intervening in a matter where they believed that "a great injustice is being done to a citizen of this land."
However, he said due to the desire for transparency, this is not often done.
Lewis is scheduled to give evidence when the trial resumes on September 19.
Published: Friday | July 26, 2013 10 Comments
Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis yesterday admitted in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court that part of the witness statement he gave in the corruption case against his colleague James Forbes and businessman Bruce Bicknell was not true.The admission by Lewis, who heads the Police Traffic Division, came after defence attorney K.D. Knight read a section of the statement in which the senior policeman said he assisted Sergeant Delon Lewis in having Bicknell's arrest on bribery charges recorded in the diary at the Elletson Road Police Station.
"Was that the truth?" Knight asked.
"No, sir," SSP Lewis replied.
However, he quickly sought to clarify his answer, telling the court "it was a mistake" after Knight informed him of the consequences of providing a misleading statement.
"It was a slip of the tongue," Lewis insisted.
"Did you change your position from 'not true' to 'mistake' before I read out the consequences or after?" Knight queried.
"Before," Lewis replied, causing Knight and co-counsel Peter Champagnie to point out to presiding magistrate, Stephanie Jackson-Haisley, that the senior policeman had contradicted himself.
Bicknell and Forbes are on trial for attempting to pervert the course of justice, arising from allegations that the Tank-Weld boss tried to bribe Sergeant Jubert Llewellyn with $2,000 after he was pulled over for speeding along the Sir Florizel Glasspole Highway last April.
The case centres around allegations that they arranged a meeting at Forbes' St Andrew office four days later to have the traffic offence disposed of.
In his testimony, punctuated by frequent outbursts of laughter, Lewis detailed how he became involved in the case and gave evidence that he instructed sergeants Llewellyn and Lewis to put the bribery case against Bicknell before the courts.
told to do a report
He said he also instructed Lewis to write a report on the circumstances surrounding Bicknell's arrest. But he said this, too, was not done, and several days later, a deputy superintendent attached to the Anti-Corruption Branch visited him at his Elletson Road offices.
"They [instructions] were not followed, and if they were followed, I would not have been here," he told Crown counsel Brodrick Smith during examination-in-chief.
He told Knight during cross-examination that both men would face departmental charges at the end of the trial for disobeying a senior officer.
The Traffic Division head testified that while the proper procedure to dispose of cases was through the courts, there were no policies or regulations that prevented senior officers in the Jamaica Constabulary Force from intervening in a matter where they believed that "a great injustice is being done to a citizen of this land."
However, he said due to the desire for transparency, this is not often done.
Lewis is scheduled to give evidence when the trial resumes on September 19.