The prosecution in the high-profile Frank Smith extortion trial has added London based Queen’s Counsel Edward Jenkins to take the lead in the case.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Joyanne Ferguson-Pratt, the former prosecutor, Anthony Delaney attempted to make an application for submission and suggested the “housekeeping” matters that arose warranted a private hearing.
However, counsel for the defense, Keith Knight, QC said that he was “not aware of any reason” why the matter could not be public.
Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt said that she was unaware of what the prosecution wanted to present.
To that, Mr. Knight suggested that what needed to be said should be heard in public, and he noted that if it were documents to be served or additional information, he had not received any and saw no reason for it to be in chamber.
Mr. Delaney then proceeded to introduce an addition to the prosecution team.
Mr. Jenkins will now lead the team as it pushes ahead with its case against the former Public Hospital Authority Chairman.
After his introduction, Mr. Jenkins who noted that as he was “very late”
in the case, attempted to make an of submission. He told the court that coming into the case, he asked for “various matters to be investigated ” which resulted in new evidence.
To this, Mr. Knight responded that on December 1st during a part of Barbara Hanna’s testimony where she admitted that she had turned over all documents to the police regarding the case, there was a discussion on absence of disclosure, and argued that “at this late stage when cross examination is perhaps less than a day away,” they are being told about additional information.
Opposing the application, Mr. Knight argued that it was an abuse of the process and that it violated the entire structure of cross examination.
To this Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt suggested that what the prosecution had could benefit the defense team.
The trial was then adjourned for an hour for the prosecution to disclose to the defense.
Upon reconvening, the prosecution informed the court that the defense needed time to review the documents and asked for the trial to be adjourned to Wednesday.
Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt expressed her views on the lateness of prosecution’s information and told both parties that she had cleared her court schedule to give her full attention to the trial.
She stated that the “court was gravely handicapped” and granted the adjournment.
Smith’s case resumes following a six-week break after the virtual complainant Barbara Hanna fell ill late last year.
Smith stands accused of 13 counts of extortion, one count of attempted extortion and one count of bribery. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The trial resumes on Wednesday at 10:30am.
