Kingston, Jamaica – On August 3, 2014, Mario Deane was taken into police custody in Montego Bay, Jamaica for possession of a small amount of marijuana intended for personal use, or a “spliff.” Mario Deane was viciously beaten while in police custody until his head was swollen to nearly twice its normal size and he died in the hospital on Jamaica’s Independence Day August 6, 2014.
Law enforcement initially reported that he fell off of a bunk bed, and later stated that he was beaten at the hands of inmates. Family attorney and advocate Michael Lorne, Esquire called upon support from colleague and human rights attorney Jasmine Rand, Esquire, an attorney that worked on the Trayvon Martin case. Rand has answered his call and will appear in Kingston on Monday, September 1st to announce her support and stand in solidarity with the family of Mario Deane. Rand intends to urge other civil and human rights leaders in the international community to do the same, as she has stated human rights, “do not start or stop at international borders. Humanity itself is universal. As a human family we must unite to fight injustice wherever it is found.”
Rand frequently defends the rights of the oppressed and poor in the United States government and law enforcement agencies and is involved in high-profile police brutality cases against the NYPD, LAPD, and Miami Beach PD. Now, Rand stands in solidarity with the Deane family to encourage the Jamaican government and INDECOM to conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Mario Deane; to bring truth, light, and transparency to Deane’s family and the citizens of Jamaica.
The press conference comes one day before Dr. Michael Baden will conduct an independent autopsy on Mario Deane in Montego Bay. Dr. Baden is a world renowned pathologist who hosted HBO’s Autopsy, helped reinvestigate former United States’ President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, gathered evidence against one the men responsible for murdering Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers, and most recently performed the autopsy of Michael Brown case in Ferguson.
