Justice Brassington Reynolds yesterday emphasised the need for relevance as testimony resumed in the $10M libel case brought by former President Bharrat Jagdeo against the Kaieteur News and its columnist Freddie Kissoon.
After a more than one-month adjournment, the case resumed and chief counsel for Jagdeo, Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos continued to lead Office of the President media officer Raul Kissoon through his main testimony.
Kissoon, after identifying photocopied extracts of articles published in the Kaieteur News newspaper from June 2010 to December 2011, said that he had made an analysis of the specific instances where Freddie Kissoon referred to Jagdeo by different names, including ‘King Kong,’ which had triggered the libel suit.
The media officer, who had previously testified that his job included research, media monitoring and the compiling and archiving of the information, said that he could not say how many names. “I have the analysis of my work,” he said and De Santos later submitted that the analysis will be brought to court at the next hearing.
De Santos, who began by questioning the witness on articles which were published from June 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010, had in his hand a stack of papers identified as photocopies of the articles. Justice Reynolds instructed him that the specific newspapers, along with the excerpts, were needed while Freddie Kissoon’s lawyer, Nigel Hughes, submitted that the witness should be allowed to have the originals so that the court can be satisfied with their authenticity.
Later, following an objection by Hughes, De Santos indicated that he did not intend to ask the witness about the contents of the articles, only about their existence. However, after hearing further evidence on the documents, Justice Reynolds questioned if a particular article addressed the alleged libel. He said that before an original document is entered into evidence, he wanted to be satisfied that it is relevant to the case before him, insofar as the words used in each article touches the issue at-hand. He explained that it would mean identifying the words in each article that is being mentioned.
De Santos, at this point, submitted that the articles he had identified showed that Freddie Kissoon had a morbid obsession with Jagdeo. He said that he was attempting to show a consistent behaviour “even if it does not relate to the specific allegation. I am attempting to show this morbid obsession day after day.”
Hughes, however, stated that relevance is the basic trait of evidence, whether in criminal or civil matters. He noted that in this case, De Santos could not go beyond the allegation in Jagdeo’s statement of claim. “He cannot bring an article that has no impact or relevance to the case,” he said.
De Santos later told the court that the witness would be testifying to other issues.
Attorney Sase Gunraj is also appearing for Jagdeo in the case, which will resume on May 16. At that time, Hughes is expected to cross-examine the witness.
Jagdeo brought the libel suit following a June 28, 2010 Kissoon article, titled ‘King Kong sent his goons to disrupt the conference,’ which he alleges portrayed him and the government as racist. Since the case began last August, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon was the only other witness to testify. Jagdeo has never attended the hearings.
