“Roger Bush and I were not friends or associates.”
So says former auxiliary police constable Courtney Levy who has refuted claims that he intimidated Bush’s estranged partner, in an attempt to keep her from talking to detectives investigating the shooting death of Bush’s son. Bush was later convicted of the murder.
Levy, 45, faces one count of obstructing the course of justice and another charge of breach of trust by a public officer.
The charges stem from a series of allegations around Levy’s conduct, which date back to 2019, when he was stationed at the Cayman Islands Detention Centre, off Fairbanks Road in George Town.
The detention centre is the first place where people arrested on suspicion of a crime are taken and processed ahead of potential charges.
On 16 Nov. 2019, Bush was taken into custody for the shooting death of his son Shaquille Bush, who he gunned down in a hail of bullets four days prior. Bush’s partner – who the Compass is not naming – was also arrested in connection with the murder a few days later.
At the heart of the allegations are a series of comments that the woman claims Levy made to and about her when she was taken into custody.
“He told me that ‘The boss man say I must hold it down and I must say no comment during the interview,’” she told Justice Roger Chapple at the start of the judge-alone trial.
“I was confused, so I said, ‘Excuse me’, to which he then said, ‘Are you deaf? The boss man said hold it down and answer no comment to a police interview,’” she added.
Levy denies claims
“That is not true, I never said those words,” said Levy when he took to the stand in his defence.
Levy accepts that he did take the witness out on a smoking break, but stressed he was not alone with her during the break and that when she was returned to her cell it was the other officer who dealt with her.
Levy told the court that when Bush and the woman were arrested he didn’t know either of them. He said he had known of Bush by reputation but had never spoken to him, and that he did not know the woman at all.
“I had received a threat to my life, and I knew that Roger Bush knew the person,” said Levy. “So, I got his number from the system, to speak to him about the incident.”
According to the woman, police eventually released her and Bush on bail, and a few days later, she saw Bush meeting up with Levy in the parking lot of a liquor store.
“I had a clear view, there were no tint, no objects, or obstacles that blocked my sight and I could see him clearly because he kept looking back at me,” she said. “I know it was him because I still remember the fear I felt while they were talking and him looking back at me constantly.”
Levy’s lawyer Keith Myers accused the woman of lying and suggested that incident never happened.
The case has now concluded and Levy has been released on bail pending a judgment which is expected next month.
According to the RCIPS, Levy was discharged from the service in October last year.
- The Cayman Compass made an editorial decision not to name the alleged victim in this case.
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