Enough of the absences

Clearly frustrated by disruptions caused by the repeated absence of a defence attorney, Justice Sanchia Burrell on Wednesday told co-accused Fritz Pinnock that he may have to cross-examine a witness himself if no legal representation is present for him when the delay-plagued Ruel Reid fraud trial resumes next Monday. “I’m expecting that counsel will be here and that you will be assisted or represented in so far as proceedings are concerned. It may, however, be that you will have to apply those doctoral muscles and ask questions in cross-examination,” Burrell told Pinnock, former head of Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

Pinnock was in the dock alongside his co-accused — Reid, the former education minister; his wife Sharen Reid and daughter Sharelle Reid; as well as Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence (Jamaica Labour Party, Brown’s Town Division). The five are before the Half-Way-Tree Parish Court in the high-profile $25-million trial. The judge’s comments followed the departure of a witness, who was placed on hold for the possibility of cross-examination by Pinnock’s attorney Hugh Wildman.

It was highlighted that at least two witnesses have now been deferred for cross-examination by the lawyer. Burrell, in fielding the Crown’s concerns about the arrangement, maintained that the court could not defer every witness, noting that it impacts how the evidence flows and how the court is organised. While she impressed upon Pinnock that she would be present to assist him, if necessary, reminding him that she is an independent arbiter, the judge made it clear she expected an attorney to be present to give him the representation he deserved.

“If not, Mr Pinnock, please come prepared to type or write and prepare cross-examination,” she said. The directive followed statements made by Justice Burrell Wednesday morning about the way in which Wildman was communicating his absences to the court. She described it as piecemeal, disjointed communication that was unhelpful at best.

The trial had resumed Wednesday morning with one attorney, Carolyn Chuck, who represents Reid’s daughter Sharelle, present via Zoom. Oswest Senior-Smith, who represents Brown Lawrence, also joined late during the trial via Zoom. Chuck briefed Burrell on the absences of several others, including Linda Wright, who represents Reid; Shannen Clarke, who represents Reid’s wife, Sharen; and Wildman, who had as…