ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) – Five police officers have appeared in court on Tuesday (August 12) in relation to the death of Joshua Etienne, whose body was found in his cell at a police station in Portsmouth, Dominica on August 5.

But before the charges were read, one of the defence lawyers, Lennox Lawrence, made an application arguing that the charges are unlawful and irregular and as a result they should not be read to the accused.

He told the court that there were several grounds he would like to argue before the charges are read, a position which the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Evelina Baptiste, had no objection to. The matter is due to resume later on Tuesday.

The five officers were detained after an autopsy was done on the body of Etienne, who had been arrested on August 4, for the alleged possession of ammunition.

Last week, Police commissioner, Daniel Carbon, described the death of the man in police custody as a “very serious incident” and “a homicide.

“This incident where Joshua Etienne was found dead has always been treated as a very serious incident. From the offset of the investigations, we’ve been treating it as a homicide,” he said on the state-owned DBS radio, adding “I can assure the general public that there is going to be no cover up, the investigation is going to very transparent”.