Prosecution secures major victory in One Don gang trial

An expert witness in the Clansman-One Don gang trial on Thursday testified that he did not change the data extracted from an Alcatel cell phone that has now been entered into evidence.

The prosecution had encountered difficulties in its previous efforts to get the phone and an accompanying compact disc containing the audio recordings and other data admitted.

However, a cyber incident response specialist testified that he extracted the data from the three phones in 2019 and had placed the extracted data -- which included deleted and hidden files audio -- on a compact disc.

The expert witness, during his testimony, shared that he used two different extraction tools to remove the data from both the phones and their SIM cards before placing the extracted data from the phones on three different compact discs, which he then handed over to the investigator.

The call log, phone contacts and factory applications were also among the data that was pulled, the court also heard.

The witness further testified that he had not changed the extracted data "in any way" and that the data placed on the compact discs could not be modified.

"The only way it could have been changed is if it was damaged which would have made it unreadable," he said.

Prior to Thurdsay, the Alcatel phone had been marked for identification after being rejected by the court three times due to hiccups with identification by the lead investigator.

The phone being admitted into evidence is a major victory for the prosecution as it was used by one of the prosecution's key witnesses -- an ex-gang member -- to secretly record phone conversations with alleged gang members including the reputed One Don Gang leader, Andre 'Blackman' Bryan, and the lone alleged female gangster, Stephanie Christie.

The One Don Gang is a breakaway faction of the Clansman Gang.

The ex-gangster, who was one of Bryan's drivers, told the court that two of the phones were provided by the police while Bryan had sponsored the third after he convinced the alleged don that his phone was not working properly.

The phones were handed to the police after the conversations were recorded.

Bryan and 32 other alleged gang members are being tried on an indictment with 25 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act and the Firearms Act.

The trial will resume on Monday in the Home Circuit Court.