By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
THE mother of one of two men police killed on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway on December 2, 2017, said “justice was served” after a Coroner’s Court jury returned a homicide by manslaughter finding at the end of an inquest yesterday.
This is the fourth finding of homicide by manslaughter against the police in the last year and raises fresh questions about how the police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will respond.
Coroner’s Court inquests do not determine criminal liability, but adverse findings against the police could spark criminal prosecutions. Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Cordell Frazier has not yet said whether she will charge officers in the previous cases that attracted a homicide by manslaughter finding but has said she is reviewing the cases.
Richard “Buddy” Bastian and Harold “Kevin” Brown were killed on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway around 1am on December 2, 2017. Bastian was pronounced dead at the scene. Brown later died in hospital.
Five jurors reached a conclusion about the shooting yesterday after hearing testimony and watching security footage that showed police running and firing their weapons at two men who were fleeing a bar. While footage showed muzzle flashes from the guns of the officers, there were no muzzle flashes from the direction of the slain men.
Bastian’s mother, Patricia Bastian, broke down in tears outside the court after the verdict.
During five days of testimony in the matter, police testified that they responded to calls of gunfire at King’s Bar on Robinson Road and Washington Road. Dispatch reportedly told officers that the suspects fled the area in a silver vehicle.
The seven officers who are the subject of this inquest went to Pressure Point Bar on a track road off the highway under the command of Superintendent Mark Barrett.
Chief Superintendent of Police Theodore Campbell, who was part of this squad but one of the last to arrive at the scene, claimed he saw one of the deceased open fire into the crowd outside the bar in a silver Honda Civic. He said police identified themselves and returned fire at the man after they shot at them.
A police chase ensued and ended with the deceased’s car crashing into the fence of Ron’s Auto near the highway.
A shotgun, which police said the deceased fired into the crowd, was recovered along with a gun registration form in the name of Harold Brown.
While police maintained that the deceased opened fire on them, the testimony of an anonymous witness, which was read by Angelo Whitfield, the court marshal, disputed this.
The witness claimed they were conversing with the deceased at the bar before a “commotion” occurred. The witness said Brown pulled out a shotgun from his car and fired it into the air.
The witness claimed he told Brown: “What are you doing? Put that back. Let’s get out of here.”
The witness claimed that shortly after, they saw police shoot up the deceased’s car.
The witness said a female police officer laughed when they told her, “Don’t kill them, their family is police also,” and that officers continued to shoot.
The witness claimed the deceased never fired at officers.
Pathologist Dr Caryn Sands testified that Bastian’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso and extremities. She listed Brown’s cause of death as gunshot wounds to the head, right hand and both thighs.
She explained that she found six gunshot wounds on Bastian’s body and five gunshot wounds on Brown’s corpse. She said that two bullets were recovered from Bastian’s body.
K Melvin Munroe represented the officers in this inquest. David Cash represented the estates of the dead men.
Before the finding was released, Mr Munroe submitted to the jury that officers fired at the men to protect innocent lives in response to a gun threat in a crowded bar. He said officers fired because they feared for their lives and those of the people around them. He said none of the officers intended to take a life that night but only wanted “to protect and serve the public”.
Mr Cash, on the other hand, submitted to the jury that police should have found a nonfatal way to subdue the men. He said it “should not cost you your life to run away” and argued that police fired at the men while they tried to drive away from the scene. He said officers acted as judge, jury and executioner.
Acting Coroner Kara Turnquest Deveaux presided over the inquest.
Reacting to the finding yesterday, Mr Cash said: “This verdict is the public’s outcry for police accountability, open investigations into police shootings and open justice. The families thank the court and the jury and are happy that the wheels of justice still turn in this country even though it may be a slow and arduous journey.”
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