Ruling in case against Dalrymple-Philibert postponed until Dec 13
Published:Saturday | December 7, 2024 | 12:08 AM
The ruling on whether the Integrity Commission’s (IC) case brought against Member of Parliament (MP) Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert will proceed to trial has been postponed to December 13.
Parish Court Judge Leighton Morris indicated in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday that he needed more time before announcing his decision.
The decision is in relation to a preliminary point raised by Dalrymple-Philibert’s attorneys, Peter Champagnie and Neco Pagon, that she was charged under the wrong section of the anti-corruption legislation.
The attorneys contend, too, that the IC, which recommended the charges against the lawmakers, misinterpreted the legislation.
In September last year, the IC ruled that Dalrymple-Philibert, a practising attorney, be slapped with eight criminal charges for making a false statement in her statutory declaration filings between 2015 and 2021.
The charges relate to breaches of the Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act and the Integrity Commission Act and are connected to the purchase of a 2015 Mercedes-Benz, which she omitted from her statutory declarations for six years, and the controversial use of a 20 per cent duty concession to purchase it.
Dalrymple-Philibert resigned as MP and House Speaker on September 21 last year over the matter.
However, she was re-elected to represent Trelawny Southern in a by-election on November 22 and resumed sitting in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.