By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
THE jury in the inquest of the 2017 police-involved killing of Aliko Collins, 21, was dismissed on Friday after exhibiting what was deemed to be “inappropriate” behaviour during an officer’s testimony.
Now-retired Superintendent Basil Collie, the subject of the inquest, allegedly shot and killed Collins in Pinewood Gardens after he and two accomplices accosted the officer during a walk on Bamboo Blvd in the early morning hours of February 8, 2017.
Acting Coroner Kara Turnquest-Deveaux informed the five-person jury that their actions during Superintendent Collie’s testimony disrespected the trial process. She deemed them unable to judge the case without bias or prejudice.
Jurors appeared incredulous during Supt Collie’s testimony and asked more questions than usual. However, it was not clear what they did to prompt the coroner’s decision, which she made after an application from K Melvin Munroe, Superintendent Collie’s lawyer.
The inquest will be restarted later this year with a new jury.
Supt Collie had claimed that Collins and his accomplices “violently” cut him off in a vehicle during his morning walk and that Collins pulled a gun on him, prompting him to shoot and kill the man.
Sgt Neil Munroe, the officer who collected evidence from the scene, never said a weapon was recovered from the scene.
Supt Collie claimed Collins’ accomplices grabbed an object from the deceased before fleeing, which he believed was a firearm.
Photos of the crime scene showed Collins lying faceup in a pool of blood near broken glass and a bottle of Carlo Rossi.
Sgt Munroe said eight 9mm cartridge casings and a single fired bullet were recovered from the scene, which all matched Superintendent Collie’s weapon.
Dr Caryn Sands, a forensic pathologist, said Collins’ cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head.
A woman also testified that before the shooting, Collins and his accomplices
allegedly tried to kidnap her on Cowpen Road. She believed her assailants intended to rape so she screamed for help, scaring them away.
Supt Collie had numerous supporters in court throughout the inquest, including Owen Hanna, the chief welfare officer of the Police Staff Association.
No members of the deceased’s family appeared, even though Angelo Whitfield, who marshalled the evidence, tried reaching Collie’s mother so she could testify.
Inquests do not determine criminal liability.
Comments
ThisIsOurs 1 week, 5 days ago
"A woman also testified that before the shooting, Collins and his accomplices. Allegedly tried to kidnap her on Cowpen Road. She believed her assailants intended to rape so she screamed for help, scaring them away."
Is it normal to include that evidence? Seems weird. Does it have any bearing on whether a shooting miles away was justified?
John 1 week, 5 days ago
Obviously the jury wasn’t buying the police story and they let their emotions be known. So tge ly brung in the story with the alleged attempted rape and kidnapping to try win the jury back. Not unlike in the Trump trial when the court heard all the sordid details of an apparent hotel sexcapade with Trump and a porn star who could remember every detail from 16 years ago. And she sells sex for a living.
ThisIsOurs 1 week, 5 days ago
Isnt the entire trial about him paying money to silence her talking about the sexcapade?
John 1 week, 4 days ago
Exactly! It is about the falsification of records. Not about hotel sex, which is not illegal. But the intricacies of tge event was brought in and let in as a ‘name and shame’ tactic
jamaicaproud 1 week, 5 days ago
Regardless of how anyone feels about the evidence or potential outcome. Is there any basis in law for the judges ruling?
Sickened 1 week, 4 days ago
Good point. But now precedence has been set and In know how to get out of jury duty. Just laugh when the police show where they took it upon themselves to add a sentence to a witness statement based on a call from the witness a few days later. Everything about our criminal system is lone jokes!
rosiepi 1 week, 5 days ago
One would think that after the last screwup (wherein the court failed to ascertain the most basic information from jurors before they were seated,) that in this case now some five years after the fact, the court would show a stronger commitment to show justice being served!
It seems that justice here seeks to serve only the accused former Supt Collie, and the jurors not only realized such they allowed their opinion of this bias to show. So what now? Collie’s lawyers get another kick at the cat in order to get their poor showing remedied…after five years time??
jamaicaproud 1 week, 5 days ago
I am not a fan of bad bos or rude boys, or "rapaH" bull. However If the Police are going to be Judge Juror and Executioner for crying out loud, Dont do it in day time. Don't do it around people Most importantly, the perp must be found with an unlicensed firearm or else......
Sickened 1 week, 4 days ago
The country's ONLY saving grace is the fact that our criminals tend to be more stupid than our police force. And... several of our top attorneys fall somewhere in between them.
John 1 week, 4 days ago
Well Wayne Munroe’s stance is ‘ a police should not have to hesitate to think ‘what will happen to me if I shout this ( criminal)? Will I have to face a coroner’s court and possibly be found guilty of manslaughter?’ That is true in the general scheme of things and police should be able to execute their duties unhindered. But unfortunately, some of the coroner’s bfases have shown that not all police officers were acting in good faith or in the execution of their duties when they executed a police-involved shooting. There have been cases where it was clearly exposed that police officers tampered with evidence, planted evidence and even removed and repositioned the body of shot victims. So no I don’t agree with Wayne Munroe that police officers should be given Carte Blanche to shoot at will. The fact that there has been only one police involved shooting some five months into 2024 compared to a high of sixteen in a single year shows the coroner’s court is effective. And police officers must be accountable and that a good number of police shootings were outside the scope of ‘police officers doing their job.’
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