Lawyer fined $200K for contempt of court

Attorney Mekelia Green has been fined $200,000 for breaching Supreme Court orders that barred her from publishing information on social media about a case involving attorney Nigel Jones and his law firm. 

Justice Simone Wolf-Reece ruled on October 25 that the fine should be paid within seven days of her order or Green should be imprisoned for 30 days. Her attorney, John Clarke, declined Friday to comment on the matter. 

The judge accepted that Green had committed civil contempt of court by disobeying an injunction, first granted on February 18, 2022, and later extended. The orders blocked her from commenting or publishing statements about Jones and his firm Nigel Jones & Company. She is a former employee. 

The orders were issued after Jones and his firm filed a defamation suit against Green over certain comments she made about them on social media. 

In the application for contempt of court first filed in March 2022, and amended in October of the same year, Jones and his firm asked the court to imprison Green for six weeks for the breach.

Technology expert Shawn Wenzel, retained by Jones, provided a report showing that Green made posts on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, in alleged violation of the orders. He also said posts that were to be deleted were still available up to three days after the first order. 

Green denied any attempts to defy the court's orders. She argued, through her attorney, that the claimants did not prove she had willfully breached the court orders or caused them harm.

The attorney also said she believed the relevant posts had been removed and contended that the claimants misinterpreted her comments. 

But Justice Wolfe-Reece said she was "satisfied" that Green had breached the court orders.

"...the defendant (Green) has engaged in a most surreptitious way to making posts and communication on social media which clearly reference the claim brought against her for defamation. I find that as an attorney –at- law the defendant in commenting to the reporter (Gleaner) about the matter and tweets after the order was served on her acted deliberately," she ruled. 

“The punishment must be reflective that each litigant must abide by the orders of the court and engage the processes of the court where one disagrees with such orders. No litigant should act in a manner to interfere with the administration of justice," the judge added.   

But the judge said the request for a six-week prison sentence was "draconian" and that "a fine is an appropriate sanction" in the case. 

"It is indeed unfortunate that the defendant an attorney at law has found herself in a position of being in contempt of the orders of the court. I am of the view that committal to prison is draconian in the circumstances. I however believe that by her actions the defendant has unjustifiably challenged the authority of the court," Justice Wolfe-Reece said

The judge also had a parting shot.  

"Both the 2nd claimant (Jones) and the defendant are practicing attorneys at law in Jamaica. There is a reasonable expectation as well that members of the profession are acutely aware of their responsibilities to the court and need to obey court orders. This is acknowledged even in the context of proceedings of a personal nature as opposed to a professional nature," Justice Wolfe-Reece said. 

Jones and his firm were represented by attorneys Jerome Spencer and Kashima Moore of Henlin Gibson Henlin. 

- Barbara Gayle

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