‘Only God has coached me on the truth’
WHILE SHARING that she was still yearning to know the truth about what happened on the night her father was killed, the daughter of slain businessman Keith Clarke yesterday declared that she was coached by God to tell the truth about what she witnessed.
Britanny, who is giving evidence at the trial for the murder of her father, made the statement while responding to a suggestion from King’s Counsel Valerie NeitaRobertson that she was coached to obstruct her questions.
“I am honoured that I sound like I’m coached, but only God has coached me on the truth,” replied the witness, who has been engaging in testy exchanges with the senior lawyer.
The young woman, who was reportedly with her father when he was shot and killed by soldiers in May 2010, also lashed out at the defence over claims that gunmen were at her home on the night her father was killed, demanding that the defence be truthful and provide proof.
“I personally believe that criminals were breaking into my house,” she said.
“You were of the view that criminals fly helicopter?”the lawyer asked.
“I don’t know about criminals,” Brittany quickly replied.
Asked further if criminals have to electrically saw to cut off her grille and door, the witness maintained that she did not know about criminals.
She further admitted that although she had received information from her neighbour that it appeared that the police and soldiers were outside her house that night, she still felt that it was criminals who were breaking into the house.
‘FAR FROM THE TRUTH’
Responding to a suggestion from Neita-Robertson that it was her father who had let in then fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke and his men to hide in their house, Brittany said, “That is absolutely far from the truth.”
“You need facts and not suggestions,” Brittany replied.
Asked by Neita-Robertson if
the presence of bloodstains in the living room and washroom wasn’t evidence that they had company, Brittany disagreed, stating that that was impossible.
However, she was pressed about her certainty that criminals were not in her basement, given that she was on the second floor having a bubble bath and studying.
Brittany, however, asserted that she would have known if persons were inside her home and further, the fact that the soldiers had to cut off and kick down the doors was evidence that no one else was present.
But Neita-Robertson told her that her response was silly because if men were inside the house, they would have locked the doors, necessitating the police and soldiers to break down the doors.
Prosecutor Latoya Bernard did not take kindly to the counsel’s remark and objected, arguing that she was being rude and giving her opinion.
Neita-Robertson then suggested that criminals were outside the house shooting at the helicopter.
“I don’t know what you are speaking of,” Brittany said after stating that she was i nside focusing on trying to survive and did not know what was happening outside.
Grilled further by NeitaRobertson, Brittany begged, “Can you stop this, please?”
“Madam, speak the truth,” the lawyer said.
“You need to speak the truth,”
Brittany answered.
The lawyer reiterated that Keith had let in the criminals and that their house was not securely locked.
“You need facts. I can’t speak to that,” the witness said while being assured by the defence lawyer that the proof would be provided as she was not suggesting anything that she could not substantiate.
The witness, under further cross-examination, rejected the suggestion that her father was shot while coming down from the closet and that she had lied about her father using the window to climb up on the closet top as it was impossible for him to do so ecause there was no support and the ledge could only hold one of his toes.
Brittany told the court that when one is in the situation that she was in on the night in question, anything would have been possible.
Clarke, a 63-year-old chartered accountant, was shot 21 times inside his master bedroom during the raid at his Kirkland Close home in Red Hills, St Andrew, by soldiers in search of then fugitive Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
Three soldiers – lance corporals Greg Tingling and Odel Buckley and Private Arnold Henry – are on trial in the Home Circuit Court before Justice Dale Palmer.
The witness will continue to face further cross-examination today.