Clifton Gibson, one of the suspects in the murder of Rubis accountant Jason Cort, was yesterday cleared of a charge that he escaped from police custody after the prosecution failed to prove its case against him.
It was the prosecution’s case that on June 29, four days after Gibson was arrested over the murder of Cort, he escaped police custody while in the vicinity of Lamaha and Parade streets.
The vehicle transporting him and two of his co-accused was on its way to the CID Headquarters, Eve Leary when he allegedly escaped.
Gibson, during the trial, offered sworn testimony from the witness box and also called in his accomplices to testify on his behalf. Gibson denied ever escaping from the police and even went so far as to claim that the police officer who testified against him had accepted a bribe.
Gibson’s co-accused, Linton Eastman and Stancy Rodney, also denied knowledge of an escape attempt by him and they provided information that conflicted with the account presented by the prosecution.
The prosecution attempted to call into question the integrity of the witnesses’ accounts and suggested that they would say anything to assist their co-accused. Eastman and Rodney denied this claim, however, while stating that up until their arrival, they were unaware of the reason behind their sudden court appearance. The two also denied conspiring before the hearing, telling the court that the three do not see each other in prison and so they have little chance of interaction.
Magistrate Ann McLennan, after considering the evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defence, acknowledged that
