Jamaican Police.Com

A special constable, 46 year old Denton Davis, who was accused of beating a passenger on a minibus, was freed after the judge upheld a no-case submission by his defence lawyer.

Davis was freed after the judge agreed the defence lawyer’s submissions, that there were too many inconsistencies in the complainant’s evidence. The lawyer stated that the description which the complainant gave of the policeman who assaulted him did not match that of the accused cop. The complainant had identified Davis in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court as the person who had assaulted him, but Davis’ defence lawyer submitted that when the complainant pointed out the policeman in court, this amounted to dock identification, which was unreliable because the complainant did not know the accused before.

Allegations are that some time in November 2005, the police stopped a minibus with passengers along Half-Way Tree Road. The complainant (who was a passenger on the bus) reportedly spoke out and said that the police were not chasing hardened criminals but were only harassing the bus men. He used expletives and was reportedly taken off the bus by the police and beaten. He reported the incident to the Police Public Complaints Authority and the director of public prosecutions eventually ruled that Davis be charged.

Tags : Beating Charge, Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court, Denton Davis, Police Public Complaints Authority, special constable