DONALD WALCOTT Brown, retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, was on Saturday night honoured for his 40 years of service to the Police Force.
Police Commissioner Francis Forbes, in his tribute, described him as one of a "dying breed of detectives."
"Jamaicans will never understand the loyalty, the industry you brought to the job. They will never understand the integrity until they look at you," Com-missioner Forbes said.
Retired Assistant Commissioner I.D. "Dick" Hibbert also heaped praises on Walcott Brown, with whom he worked for several years. He lauded his former partner's unquestionable integrity, saying "You can walk tall anywhere in this country."
Donald Walcott Brown, in a humour-filled reply, revealed that he kept files on all his children, calling it a hazard of the occupation; and thanked all his former colleagues and friends who supported him throughout the four decades in the police force. "The journey I took in this wonderful organisation took 40 years to complete," he said. "I did not feel the journey as tiresome and as long." He said he would still bear arms for the Force because he still feels dedicated and committed to service.
Speaking at the dinner in honour of Walcott Brown at the Medallion Hall Hotel, St. Andrew, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Kent Pantry suggested that journalists be trained in respect of the law so as to prevent themselves from being manipulated, and to inform the public in a responsible manner. He was speaking against the background that there were some people who have an agenda "and they use the media to put forward their position without any regard for the way they do it..."
Citing recent examples, Mr. Pantry said that talk show hosts are especially vulnerable. "Sometimes talk show hosts who are not legally trained mislead the public on the law," he said. "I have heard a certain talk show host say that manslaughter is when one is negligent. That is not correct. Manslaughter is committed in various ways. It may be committed by a wanton disregard for life of others in the doing of an unlawful act. There could be motor manslaughter by dangerous driving. There may be some negligence involved but for someone convicted of man-slaughter, there must be gross negligence. Not ordinary negligence."
The DPP also mentioned the recently-concluded Braeton Inquest and the reaction to the decision reached by the 10-member jury, saying that many persons have not fully appreciated the workings of the Coroners' Act. "When an inquest is held with a jury," the DPP said, "the jury shall give their verdict and certify it by an inquisition in writing, setting forth, so far as such particulars have been proved to them: Who the deceased was; and how, when and where the deceased came to his death and if it appears to the jury that prima facie, the circumstances of the death indicate that the crime or murder or manslaughter has been committed, the persons, if any, whom the jury charge with murder or manslaughter."
"You will notice that it does not allow them to say person or persons are criminally responsible," Mr. Pantry explained. "It says who they charge with murder or manslaughter. In a few recent cases such as the Michael Gayle inquest, the Patrick Genius inquest, and the Braeton inquest, nobody was charged by the jury."
He explained further that the jury in the Michael Gayle inquest said "person or persons criminally liable". The Coroner, he said, could not have issued a warrant for "person or persons". They also did not charge anybody with murder or manslaughter.
At the Braeton Inquest, he said that the jury returned a verdict of 6 to 4, the majority stating that no one was criminally liable. Some lawyers, he said, claim the jury failed to reach a verdict.
He said though that the Coroners' Act states that a jury fails to reach a verdict if the jury comprises of seven or more persons, and the minority consists of not more than two, the jury comprises less than seven persons and the minority consists of not more than one, the Coroner may accept the verdict of the majority and the majority shall in that case certify the verdict, or in any other case the Coroner may discharge the jury and issue a warrant summoning another jury. He said that it was his opinion that the Coroners' Act be amended to make it more easily understood so that the interpretation does not lend itself to absurdity.
