Seion Odinga Brammer, who is currently on trial for possession for ganja trafficking, has told a court that he only claimed the drugs belonged to him because the arresting officers told him that if he didn’t his mother would go down as well.
Brammer was charged with having in his possession 464 grammes of cannabis for trafficking on May 13, at Eighth Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme.
When called upon by Magistrate Judy Latchman last Friday to lead a defence, Brammer opted to give sworn evidence.
During his recollection of what occurred on the day of the discovery, he stated that he had just returned home from work and then saw police vehicles pull up.
He noted that there were three apartments on the property; two, which are joined and another single one at the back of the yard. He said his mother and four grandchildren and his brother, Rawle Brammer, lived at the front house, while he lived in the house at the back.
Brammer added that he was asked by a police officer where his brother was and he told the officer that he would not be able to say since he just got home from work.
It was then, he stated, that an officer came out of his mother’s house with a black bag and said, “dem gat thing in hay.”
He said it was after this comment that he and his mother were taken into the house, told of the narcotics possession offence they had committed and they were arrested.
Officers continued to search the home, according to him, and they pulled a Ziploc bag from one of the chairs.
Brammer said he was then asked who the Ziploc bag belonged to and he denied knowing whose it was, as did his mother.
According to Brammer, one of the officers then told him, “This woman [referring to his mother] is an old woman; is bes’ you tek the rap for this thing, instead ah we tek down all two ah y’all.”
Brammer told the court that he took the rap for the illicit drugs because he didn’t want his mother to take the fall.
He stated that he was then instructed to give a statement and sign it but when they requested his name he refused to give it to the officers.
As a result of his refusal, Brammer stated that he was told by one of the officers that they just needed any name and the name didn’t have to be his.
He said this caused him to give them the name Kevin Odinga Brammer and it was not until he appeared in court that he told the magistrate what the officers said to him and his correct name was placed on the file.
Meanwhile, when the trial continued yesterday, Brammer was cross-examined by police prosecutor Shawn Gonsalves and then opted to call one witness: his mother, Linda Brammer.
In her evidence, Linda Brammer told the court that on the day of the find officers opened her gate and one told her not to go into the house but to open the door.
According to the 71-year-old woman, she complied with the officers and opened the door.
She further stated she recognised one of the officers because he was at the house sometime before for her other son, Rawle.
Linda stated that she was asked where Rawle was and she told the officer that he wasn’t at home.
Magistrate Latchman later suspended the woman’s evidence and adjourned the matter to October 5.
