The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is calling for an increase in personnel and resources for the Communication Forensic and Cyber Crime Division (CFCD) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

This call comes in light of several lottery scamming cases being dismissed due to lack of evidence from the prosecution. 

 

The DPP's office says the report from the Communication Forensic and Cyber Crime Division accounts for most of the missing evidence in the cases, given the fact that it is responsible for analyzing, extracting and presenting information retrieved from electronic devices seized for lottery scamming investigations.

 

A report from the investigation is submitted to the court in relation to specific cases.

 

The DPP's office explains that without these CFCD reports, there will be no viable prosecution.

 

It notes that at the end of the first four weeks of the Easter sitting of the Trelawny Circuit Court, the Prosecution disposed of 71 cases from the list.

 

The Prosecution offered no evidence in 52 of those cases.  

 

The DPP's office points to high attrition rate among JCF analysts and a shortage of personnel to deal with the caseload as two factors affecting the Department. 

 

The Office of the DPP also notes that delays without a reasonable excuse can be detrimental to the delivery of due process and fairness to the accused. 

 

It says when CFCD reports are not forthcoming even after months or years, this can force the respective prosecutor to offer no evidence as the delay has overwhelmed fairness to the accused who has a constitutional right to due process in a reasonable time.

 

The DPP's office says, with the significant  increase in cybercrime activity and the prevalence of the use of electronic devices in criminal cases, investigators are calling for greater assistance from CFCD analysts.