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Sturge fined $5,000, guilty of contempt

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Former United National Congress (UNC) Senator and criminal defence attorney Wayne Sturge was convicted of contempt of court and fined $5,000 yesterday.

Sturge was found guilty and sentenced by High Court Judge Norton Jack in the Port-of-Spain High Court.

The contempt of court proceedings was brought over a series of posts Sturge made on his Facebook account while he was involved in a murder trial before Jack in October, last year.

The posts related to Jack’s handling of the case and the testimony of the State’s main witness in the trial, which resulted in five accused men, among them Sturge’s clients, being convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

“I expect this would never happen again with another attorney. This was not about this court or a witness. It was about specific conduct,” Jack said as he stated that the social media posts risked prejudicing the trial.

Jack disagreed with the suggestion of State prosecutor Tricia Huddlin-Copper to impose a harsh sentence against Sturge with a possible jail term. He said he felt a fine was more appropriate.

Jack allowed Sturge seven days to pay the fine or face six months in prison.

He also ordered that the issue be referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Association for its consideration.

Once the committee receives the complaint, a panel of Sturge’s colleagues will host a mini-trial to determine if his actions constitute a breach of the Code of Ethics for attorneys under the Legal Profession Act.

If he is eventually found guilty of professional misconduct, the panel will decide whether no further action should be taken or if he should face penalties which include being fined, suspended or disbarred.

Before the sentence was passed, Jack gave Sturge, who was seated at the bar table with his attorney Gerald Ramdeen and several members of his law chambers, an opportunity to address the court.

Sturge said: “I did not expect that reporting on the case would have this effect, it was not my intention. In those circumstances, I apologise for bringing the administration of justice into disrepute.”

Sturge noted that since the issue was raised after screen-shots of the posts were sent to Jack during the trial, he has refrained from making posts related to ongoing legal proceedings.

“It is not something that would happen again,” Sturge said.

In a brief interview after leaving the court, Sturge said he would consider whether to appeal Jack’s decision before the deadline for paying the fine expires.

 


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