After 5 days off, Andrew "Pawpa" Brown and his older brother Floyd aka Joswant were back in Magistrate's Court today for their extradition trial.
CIB Chief Assistant Superintendent of Police Chester Williams was scheduled to take the stand but he didn't. Instead Solicitor General Elson Kaseke, who is representing the U.S. government, said he didn't need to call Williams because he had the tapes of calls allegedly made between Manuel Rena, "Pawpa" Brown, and Floyd Brown after a shipment of drugs landed in Miami in November of 1999. Manuel Luis Rena was the man busted with the 18.1 kilos of coke when it landed at Miami's Port Everglades. The tapes were allegedly made by DEA Special Agent Sheree Gordon.
This afternoon the Sol Gen's clerk Priscilla Banner was recalled, amid strong objections from the Brown legal team, to certify that she received the tapes and transcripts of the recorded call via a diplomatic pouch on Friday August 5th, which was just two days ago. Lead Attorney for the Brown brothers' Dean Barrow objected to introducing either the tapes or transcripts because they had no notice and no disclosure.
In Barrow's words the tapes would be 'unfair to Pawpa Brown and fundamentally prejudicial to him.' He asked Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord to be "finally fair" to Pawpa Brown when he makes his ruling on the admissibility of the tapes on Wednesday morning. Barrow has called those tapes, which are a part of Sheree Gordon's affidavit, the lynchpin of the United States' case. He has said that if there is no tape and no transcript then there is no case against Pawpa Brown.
The court is yet to deal with the case of Floyd Brown since the matters are being handled separately. Both brothers have been detained at the Hattieville Prison since they were picked up nearly a month ago.
