Rick James Wins Defamation Suit

Details

Politics

Tuesday, 26 June 2012 02:30

By Everton Barnes

Antigua St. John’s - The High Court has ruled in favour of Secretary of the Free and fair Elections League, George Rick James, in a suit claiming defamation of character brought against the representative for St Mary’s North, Molwyn Joseph.

Justice Jennifer Remy on Monday handed down a decision giving James a financial award of $7,500, along with costs, in the matter arising from statements Joseph made on his Fire and Steel programme relating to the Tribunal that examined the conduct of three members of the Antigua & Barbuda Electoral Commission back in September, 2010.

The court heard that one day before the conclusion of hearings at the Tribunal, the lawyer leading the evidence, Sanjiv Datadin, requested of the Tribunal permission for James to testify and give evidence. This request was turned down by the three-man panel on the grounds that James had been present in the court throughout the proceedings.

On his programme that night, Joseph, who had been giving nightly updates on the hearing before the Tribunal, made certain statements regarding James’ conduct.

Following the decision, James told Caribarena.com that he never expected the matter to reach this far as at least twice he had publicly called on Joseph to retract the offending statements and comments. He said Joseph’s refusal to comply left him with no other choice but to proceed before the court.

It was not a total victory for James, as his application for aggravated damage was denied by the court.

Meanwhile, Joseph directed all inquiries about the case to his attorney, Samantha Marshall. She told caribarena.com that the court gave a verbal judgment on Monday and that she and her client were awaiting the written judgment before making a determination on how to proceed.

She said she expects to get a copy of the judgment on Tuesday.

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