Attorney Hugh Wildman has called for Chief Justice Bryan Sykes to intervene in conflicting court commitments that he says are making it difficult for him to attend the multimillion-dollar fraud trial involving former Education Minister Ruel Reid and his co-accused.
Wildman, who represents former Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) President Professor Fritz Pinnock, has missed several days of the trial in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court because of his commitments in the murder trial of six policemen accused in the 2013 killing of three people on Acadia Drive in St Andrew.
The absences have frustrated Senior Parish Court Judge Sanchia Burrell, who, on Thursday, warned Pinnock that he might have to take notes and conduct his own cross-examination when the trial is resumed on Monday.
The warning followed Wildman’s announcement that he had been granted time away from the Supreme Court to make funeral arrangements after his mother’s death and would be unable to attend the fraud trial next week.
Priority case
“I am saying this must warrant the intervention of the chief justice as to how this thing is to be managed going forward as it is not making sense to me,” Widman said at a press conference at his Half-Way Tree, St Andrew-based law office yesterday, noting that the murder trial had been designated a priority case.
He said he had visited Sykes’ office twice seeking a meeting but was told that the chief justice was off the island.
“I can’t be more than one place at a time,” he said.
Rejecting suggestions that he had deliberately stayed away from court, Wildman insisted that he remained committed to defending Pinnock vigorously, maintaining that there was no case against his client.
He said he had informed the judge presiding over the murder trial of the scheduling conflict and was assured that she would contact Burrell to explain the circumstances. He also emailed the relevant court clerk.
Wildman further said High Court Judge Sonia Linton Bertram had assured him that she would address the matter with Burrell, telling him, “Leave that to me. I will protect you.”
He disputed Burrell’s description of communication about his absences as “disjointed”, “vague”, “piecemeal”, and “unhelpful at best”.
Wildman also rejected criticism that he had failed to arrange for another attorney from his chambers to appear, saying that his junior had other court commitments.
Burrell had cautioned attorneys to ensure that their firms were adequately staffed, stressing that the court could not continually adjust proceedings around their schedules.
Wildman said he handled several cases pro bono and that Pinnock had specifically retained him to conduct his defence.
“My client did not engage another lawyer. He engaged me, so it would not be fair to me to ask another lawyer to do what I would want to do for my client,” he said.
The fraud trial began in October 2023.
Reid, his wife, Sharen, their daughter, Sharelle, Pinnock, and Jamaica Labour Party councillor Kim Brown Lawrence face charges arising from allegations that more than $25 million in public funds was misappropriated through fictitious jobs, contracts, and invoices between 2016 and 2019.
tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com
