Jamaica Gleaner
Published: Tuesday | October 13, 2009
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Video ID system back on stream
Solicitor General Douglas Leys and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn have given the nod for the police to use the video identification system (VIS) following earlier concerns about its legality.

Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) last Friday had resumed using the VIS after receiving the advice.

Head of the Major Investigation Task Force, Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green, told The Gleaner yesterday that the VIS would be used in the identification parade involving a 23-year-old murder suspect in the John Terry case.

The former British honorary consul to Jamaica was found dead at his home in Mount Carey, St James, on September 9. His body was discovered with a cord around the neck.

The VIS was introduced by the JCF in March 2009. However, in August, Leys had advised the police to stop using the VIS until the attorney general's chambers reviewed the legality of the system.

The review from the solicitor general stated that " ... as a matter of criminal practice and procedure, the identification evidence could be introduced in the courts at common law". This view was supported by the DPP.

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