Lawyers raise issue over ‘stipend’ in One Don Gang trial

Defence lawyers in the Clansman-One Don Gang trial are fuming over its seven-week adjournment for which they will not be paid although they have a mountain of work to do, and are calling for the intervention of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck.

The lawyers want the minister to revisit the decision that was taken to prorate their pay.

On Wednesday the trial was adjourned until April 7 after the prosecution asked for additional time to go through a Communication Forensic Cybercrimes Department report, which contains about 57,000 files, to identify witnesses.

During the adjournment, the defence lawyers, who number about 40, are also expected to visit their clients and sift through the material with them and take instructions.

But two of the frustrated lawyers who spoke with The Gleaner said it is grossly unfair for attorneys to be paid only when they appear as they have been working constantly on the case.

Furthermore, they noted that the “stipend” that they are being paid at a measly $7,500 per day is already well below what would have been acceptable.

“Defence counsel are very unhappy about this adjournment because defence counsel are only paid for the day when they sit in court and if the court is only held 10 days of the month, we end up with nothing because it becomes prorated at $7, 500 per day,” the lawyer said.

Further, the lawyer said it must be considered that the defence counsel still have to do preparatory work at their home and workplace when the case is not being heard.

“So it is grossly unfair to us because while everybody else continues to get their full salary, we are only getting what I refer to as a stipend of $100,000 for an accused,” the lawyer said.

“When the matter is adjourned everybody else who is involved gets their full salary, the judge, the prosecutor, the police all up to the person who cleans, they get their full salary so why is it that ours which is already nothing has to be prorated,” the lawyer charged.

However, Chuck when contacted yesterday said, “We can’t pay them when they are not working.”

He, however, noted that the lawyers can petition him to revisit the issue but at the moment his position is that they cannot be paid when they are not at court.

“How do we know that they are working when they are not in court,” he questioned.

Andre ‘Blackman’ Bryan, reputed leader of the One Don faction of the Clansman Gang, and 32 other alleged gang members are being tried on an indictment with 25 counts under the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organizations) Act and the Firearms Act.