By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (MARCH 2018) –A lawyer who was not properly dressed nor officially prepared with documents whilst addressing the court at the recent hearing about the diplomatic passport case involving Dr. Denzil Douglas has been called out for trying to comment on the matter, on behalf of a client, in such manner.
As gathered, that particular lawyer, named Tony Ross, stood to represent a private citizen identified as Newton Ground resident Cartwright ‘Big Chief’ Mills who has reportedly come in possession of a private document relating to Douglas to be used in challenging the Opposition Leader before a court on the parliament eligibility issue.
This media house was in court for the dual citizenship hearing held on Monday 26th February and used the opportunity during the question and answer segment of the St.Kitts-Nevis Labour Party’s monthly press conference held on Wednesday 28th February to ask about what took place that day concerning that lawyer.
Seated next to each other, the body language of Douglas and his colleague Marcella Liburd, Party Chairperson (who is a lawyer by profession) objected to Ross’ remarks and at one point Douglas was heard saying “he cannot do that!”
Notably, that lawyer-who was positioned on the claimant’s side of the court room- in speaking with court judge Trevor Warde, was heard indicating that he represented neither the claimant (the Attorney General) nor defendant (Dr. Douglas) in that specific matter but that he had an interest in the case.
He was also heard indirectly apologising for having been “not properly attired” to address the court and was seen leaving the court room shortly after he had got up and spoke.
At the recent press conference, Liburd, in responding to the question posed by this media house gave the lawyer’s name and shared some details behind the opposing attitude towards Ross that day in court.
“He was not robed and he sought to address the court. I think the bailiff was trying to indicate to him that he cannot address the court unless he is robed but nonetheless he persisted and I thought that the judge should not have heard him at all but I thought the judge was a little tolerant even though in the end he told him that he should sit down because he was not properly before the court but in the process the judge was asking him basically who he was representing and he was neither representing the applicant nor the defendant.”
She added: “However, he was trying to say that he is building a claim or has brought a claim or whatever in the matter and that is the person who he is representing.”
According to Liburd, Ross did not have the necessary documents to speak on.
“I understand subsequently from Dr. Douglas that sometime later that afternoon, he (Dr. Douglas) was served a claim from someone from his constituency saying that as a constituent they are concerned or saying he shouldn’t be in parliament so that is the person that the gentleman is supposed to be representing but the point is when he (Ross) was before the court, the claim was not even served on Dr. Douglas as yet so he wasn’t properly before the court in anyway.”
Douglas also commented saying in part that “Attorney Tony Ross was seeking to represent a constituent based on a claim he had made to the court which was not yet even served on me. In fact, this series of affidavits and documents were only served on me just after 4 O’clock on Monday afternoon after the court hearing had long been abandoned…”
The immediate former prime minister went on to give details about the individual whom Ross is representing.
“But apart from that matter and related to that is the fact that when I went through the pile of documents that was being served by one Cartwright Mills of Newton Ground , one who is called Big Chief , I noticed that included in the documents was one of the exhibits to his affidavits and that was a copy of the nomination paper that I had signed in the presence of and certified by the returning officer on the 6th day of February when the Elections were being held on the 16th; the 6th being nomination day.”
The Opposition Leader wondered aloud about the breach of privacy.
“And so I want to ask a more fundamental question. How could Big Chief, that is Cartwright Mills, of Newton Ground, a private citizen, a constituent of mine who is challenging me on the matter that I am a citizen of Dominica and I should vacate my seat in the Parliament, how could he get hold of a private document that I signed on the 6th day of February in 2015?”
Douglas further questioned how a regular citizen could get the private document and also accused the Harris-led administration of political mischief.
“How could he obtain a private, confidential document that is now being made public with my own intervention of consent and support? How many other government documents which are of a highly confidential nature are being circulated by Timothy Harris and his government to persons out there in order to seek their own narrow political ends? Where is the privacy and confidentiality in this government? Where are people rights on the constitution? Where are their rights to have protection of their personal property? Where are these rights in terms of protection by this government? This part and parcel of the concerns that citizens have here in St.Kitts and Nevis.”