The riveting trial of the 33 alleged members of the St Catherine-based Klansman gang entered another dimension on Monday with the ruling by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes that the remaining 28 have cases to answer, despite the significantly whittled down 25-count indictment brought by the Crown at the start of the case in September last year.

Prosecutors at the end of May, ahead of no-case submissions by the defence, had indicated that they had no case against four of the original 33 accused who had been standing trial, citing insufficient evidence. Those four — Damaine Elliston, Rushane Williams, Rivaldo Hylton, and Owen Ormsby — were ordered were freed by the judge.

The Crown went on to concede a number of counts, following which a fifth defendant, Dwayne “Chemist” Salmon, also walked after a successful no-case submission by his attorney.

On Monday, the trial judge ruled, detailing further counts which he said could not stand, those already conceded by the Crown, and the defendants who will have to answer to the case brought by the prosecution against them.

The counts which fell completely:

Count 25, which had charged Andre Bryan, Fabian Johnson, Stephanie Christie, Jahzeel Blake, Andre Golding, and Lamar Simpson with conspiracy to murder a man named Ice, for which the judge said there was no evidence to prove the intended victim even existed.

Counts 21 and 22 charging the accused Roel Taylor and Joseph McDermott with illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, respectively.

Count 20, which had charged the accused Andre Bryan and Ted Prince with the murder of an unnamed man in the vicinity of Phil’s Hardware in Spanish Town in 2018.

Count 18, which charged the accused Lamar Simpson with murder, was conceded by the Crown leading to the trial judge declaring him not guilty.

Count 16, which charged defendants Andre Bryan and Jermaine Robinson with conspiracy to murder an individual named Yaya had been conceded by the Crown.

Count 13, the Crown had conceded, making it so that all the four defendants — Andre Bryan, Michael Whitely, Andre Golding and Stephanie Christie — who were charged with facilitating the 2017 murder of a bus driver in Spanish Town were pronounced “not guilty”.

Count 10, the prosecution led no evidence, making it so that the count failed and all the defendants named under that count — Andre Bryan, Kalifa Wiliams, Dwight Hall, Dylan McLean, Kevaughn Green, Andre Golding, and Lamar Simpson — were pronounced not guilty.

The Crown also led no evidence on count 9, making it so that Andre Bryan, Jason Brown, Fabian Johnson, Stephanie Christie, Rivaldo Hylton and Andre Golding were declared not guilty.

The Crown abandoned count 4, which had charged the accused Andre Bryan, Tareek James, Jason Brown, Kalifa Williams, Kevaughn Green, Jahzeel Blake, Owen Ormsby, and former accused Damaine Elliston with conspiracy to murder.

The Crown also conceded count 3, which had charged Andre Bryan, Andre Golding, Kevaughn Green and Dwayne Salmon for illegal possession of firearms.

The counts which stood:

Counts 23 and 24 charging the accused Roel Taylor with illegal possession of firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.

Count 19, which originally charged the accused Andre Bryan, Lamar Simpson, and Ted Prince with murder. The Crown conceded in respect of the case against Simpson, who the judge on Monday declared not guilty. Prince and Bryan, however, still have a case to answer.

Count 17, which charges the accused Marco Miller, Chevroy Evans, Brian Morris, Andre Golding, Ricardo Thomas, and Marco Whitely with facilitating the 2018 murder of a man known as Tesha Bus Driver, all the defendants have a case to answer, said the judge.

Count 15, the Crown had conceded in respect of the accused Jahzeel Blake, leaving Andre Bryan, Michael Whitely, and Brian Morris. The judge ruled that Bryan, Whitely, and Morris should answer in respect of that count.

Count 14, the Crown had indicated that it had insufficient evidence against Michael Whitely, Marco Miller, Chevroy Evans and Brian Morris. However, the accused Andre Bryan, Jahzeel Blake, Andre Golding, and Tareek James remain on those charges.

Count 12, the Crown had conceded its case against the accused Owen Ormsby, which leaves Andre Bryan, Tareek James, and Karl Beech on that count for the alleged murder of an individual called Outlaw in 2017.

Count 11, the Crown had conceded in respect of the charges against the accused Owen Orsmby and Karl Beech, who the judge, in turn, declared ‘not guilty’. However, Andre Bryan and Tareek James have a case to answer in respect of the offence of conspiracy to murder the individual known as Outlaw.

Count 8, which charged Andre Bryan, Fabian Johnson, Dylan McLean, Brian Morris, Michael Whitely, Tareek James, and Jahzeel Blake with arson, also stood. The trial judge said all the defendants named have a case to answer.

Similarly count 7, which charges the same seven individuals named in count 8 with facilitating the murder of a St Catherine couple, also stood.

Count 6, the Crown conceded in respect of Jahzeel Blake, Tomrick Taylor and Donovan Richards which had charged them with the murder of an individual called Doolie. The trial judge, however, said the accused Andre Bryan has a case to which to respond, “if he so chooses”.

Count 5, the Crown conceded in respect of the accused Chevroy Evans, who the judge declared not guilty. However, Daniel McKenzie, Marco Miller, Dwight Hall, Pete Miller, Andre Smith, and Kemar Harrison all have a case to answer in respect of a 2017 double murder.

Count 2, which charges the remaining 28 accused with being members of a criminal organisation.

Count 1, which charges Andre Blackman Bryan with leadership of a criminal organisation.

The Crown, in opening its case on September 20, had said the accused individuals who comprise the “Blackman faction” of the gang under Bryan’s leadership had various roles in which they acted as “killers, drivers, lookout men or watchmen, gunsmiths, and foot soldiers”.

The Crown is alleging that between 2015 and 2019 the accused carried out a range of murders, conspiracies to murder as well as extortion and arson throughout St Catherine. It said the gang’s headquarters at Jones Avenue in Spanish Town was used by gang members for planning their exploits and was also where briefing and debriefing in respect of crimes took place.

The court also heard that this was where transactions such as the sale and purchase of guns to carry out murders were done. Several members of the gang, in their roles as “foot soldiers”, the court was told, were responsible for ensuring that murders ordered were executed and that extortion monies were collected.

The case, which includes the largest number of accused ever to be tried together in a single matter, is being handled by 40 attorneys. The accused are being tried under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) (Amendment) Act, commonly called the anti-gang legislation, with several facing additional charges under the Firearms Act for crimes allegedly committed between 2015 and 2019.

All 33 accused, who are being tried under an indictment containing 25 counts, when arraigned on September 20, 2021 at the start of the trial, had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against them.

The offences for which they are being charged include being part of a criminal organisation, murder, conspiracy to murder, arson, illegal possession of firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition. Bryan is charged with, among other things, being the leader of a criminal organisation — Klansman/One Don gang.

The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday in the Supreme Court, downtown Kingston.