Letter of the Day | A call for transparency, clarity, and public reassurance

Open letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions

THE EDITOR, Madam:

This open letter is written in the public interest and with full respect for the constitutional independence of your Office under Section 94 of the Constitution of Jamaica.

It is not an attempt to direct prosecutorial decision-making, but rather a call for transparency, clarity, and public reassurance in relation to unresolved homicide investigations of national concern.

Two such matters continue to trouble public confidence in the criminal justice system: the disappearance and presumed killing of Jasmine Deen, and the murder of Gabriel King.

THE JASMINE DEEN CASE

Jasmine Deen disappeared after attending classes at The University of the West Indies. From early on, the investigation raised serious public concern.

It is now a matter of public record that investigative journalism (Nationwide News, for example) revealed information suggesting that possible suspects had been identified through disclosures made by Jasmine Deen’s family – information which, by all reasonable inference, would have been available to investigators from an early stage.

The public is therefore entitled to ask:

What investigative steps were taken in response to information provided by the family?

Why did significant lines of inquiry surface publicly through media investigation rather than official police disclosure?

Why were individuals found in possession of Jasmine Deen’s personal effects charged only with possession-related offences?

On what evidentiary basis did the Jamaica Constabulary Force publicly suggest that murder charges could follow within a “year and a day”?

Why, more than a year after those statements, has no formal progress report been issued?

Your office subsequently clarified that the evidentiary threshold required to institute murder charges had not been met. That clarification was legally sound. However, it left unresolved the broader concern of how public expectations were raised in the absence of sufficient evidence, and why the matter now appears stalled without explanation.

THE GABRIEL KING CASE

Similar concerns arise in the investigation into the murder of Gabriel King, which has likewise been marked by prolonged silence, limited public communication, and no clear indication of investigative progress.

In both cases, the public is left to speculate – an outcome that serves neither justice nor institutional credibility.

The Public Interest

The Jamaican public does not seek to interfere with prosecutorial discretion. It seeks reassurance that:

• Investigations remain active

• Evidentiary gaps are being addressed

• Families are treated with dignity through communication

• Public confidence in the justice system is preserved.

I respectfully invite your Office to consider issuing:

1. A public status update on both matters

2. A general outline of investigative steps taken and outstanding, without evidentiary prejudice

3. A reaffirmation of the State’s commitment to transparency where prosecutions cannot yet be instituted.

Justice must be independent – but it must also be intelligible to the society it serves.

OSWALD DAWKINS

Citizen | Public-Interest

Advocate