KINGSTON, Jamaica, Sep 15 2016 – Popular clergyman, Reverend Merrick ‘Al’ Miller was Thursday slapped with a one million dollar fine less than two months after he was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Parish Judge Simone Wolf Reece sitting in the Kingston & St Andrew Parish Court had on July 22 found Miller guilty after he was arrested and charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in July 2010 when then fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke was found in his company travelling along the Mandela Highway in St. Catherine.
Coke, who was wanted by United States law enforcement authorities on drugs and gun charges, later waived his right to an extradition hearing and was taken to the United States where he was convicted and is now serving a 23-year jail term.
The clergyman, who could serve 12 months in prison if he fails to pay the fine, had throughout his trial maintained his innocence, insisting that he was merely escorting Coke to the United States Embassy in St Andrew so he could surrender to authorities there, based on an agreement with then Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington.
However, Sergeant of Police Winston Radcliffe had testified that Miller, with “Dudus” as his passenger, led the police in a high-speed chase even when he was told to stop.
Earlier this week, the Jamaica government said it had appointed a Cabinet committee to consider the report and recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the May 2010 security forces operation in West Kingston.
Former Barbados chief justice Sir David Simmons chaired the three-member Commission that probed the circumstances that led to the incursion that left more than 70 people dead.
The committee, which is chaired by Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, will report to the Cabinet periodically on the proposed approach to be taken in the implementation of the 15 recommendations that are contained in the Commissioners’ report.
The 2010 Kingston incursion followed the mission by members of the Jamaica Defence Force and the police to arrest Coke, who was wanted in the United States on drug and gun trafficking charges.
The incursion, which began on May 23, ended with the deaths of 73 people and injury to 35 others. Four soldiers were also killed and more than 500 people arrested as the security forces battled gunmen loyal to Coke, who was eventually captured one month later.
