A REVIEW of some 100 court cases in instances where the police collected statements from witnesses who are not required to appear in court, under the Evidence Act, is well under way.

At the same time, a committee set up to review Section 31 (d) of the Evidence Act has held two meetings and is scheduled to complete its work in May.

Karl Angell, director of communication for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), told The Gleaner last Friday that a team assembled by Mark Shields, deputy commissioner of police in charge of crime, was going through a number of case files.

Angell said at the end of the review process, a report would be submitted to Commissioner of Police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin.

Statements examined

The examination of the statements given by witnesses in more than 100 criminal matters now before the courts comes against the background of the January 15 confession by Detective Constable Carey Lyn-Sue of the Montego Bay Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).

Lyn-Sue confessed in court that he had fabricated a witness and accompanying statement in the murder case against a 22-year-old St James man, an admission that sparked national debate.

He was subsequently suspended from duty by the commissioner and is expected to face the court.

Meanwhile, a review of the Evidence Act was ordered by Prime Minister Bruce Golding after the confession of Lyn-Sue.

Golding had instructed Dorothy Lightbourne, attorney general and minister of justice, to undertake the review and advise him on measures that might be necessary to prevent the perversion of justice.

A number of groups, including Jamaicans For Justice and the Jamaican Bar Association, supported the move to re-examine the Evidence Act.

Detective Constable Lyn-Sue told the court that he submitted the false statement after no one was willing to come forward to give evidence in the matter.