Categorized | National News

Smith’s Committal Hearing Delayed

Embattled attorney Keod Smith will have another week before he knows if he will face prison time as Supreme Court Justice, Rhonda Bain granted Mr. Smith another adjournment.

At what should have been a committal hearing following the first adjournment which was given to allow Mr. Smith to seek counsel, on March 22nd, Justice Bain granted Mr. Smith a second adjournment as she acknowledged that because of the nature of the case, he would need to be represented by counsel and not pro-say.

During his court appearance on March 22nd, Mr. Smith requested that Justice Bain grant a stay of the committal proceedings that had arose out of a legal cost hearing, that came out of a recusal case that he himself had accused Justice Bain of being bias.

However, Justice Bain denied his request and instead gave him two days to seek counsel.

Although Mr. Smith returned to court yesterday following the first adjournment without counsel, he noted that he was not able to retain one in the allotted time and was prepared to proceed although he would prefer to be represented by counsel.

The Coalition to Save Clifton Bay, attorney Fred Smith, however noted to Justice Bain that he did not agree with the request for another adjournment and noted that as Mr. [Keod] Smith had suggested he is an attorney and is capable of representing himself as the case was not a complex one.

After a series of questions from her honor and a brief adjournment, Justice Bain returned to grant Mr. [Keod] Smith another adjournment stating that as to the nature of the case she did not think the first adjournment time frame was sufficient time and gave him another week to ascertain counsel.

She noted that because of the nature of the case, Mr. [Keod] Smith should not represent himself but should be represented by another. She also noted that the court seeks to be fair in all matters.

Justice Bain further noted that this would be the last adjournment on this particular matter and that she will proceed with the committal hearing with or without Mr. [Keod] Smith being represented by counsel.

This is the second contempt application faced by Mr. Smith as a result of several cases involving Save The Bays.

This hearing relates to his refusal to be examined by the Registrar as to his financial means in violation of a court order.

The matter was adjourned to April 3rd.

Written by Jones Bahamas

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