Supporters turn out for Dorothy
Published:Friday | March 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer
WITH JUST a few moments to spare before Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne stepped up to the witness stand, attorney K.D. Knight walked by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporters.
Quite like Thursday, the colour of Knight's tie was of interest to the diehard Labourites.
"Put on a green tie K.D.," a woman said, heckling the passing Knight, who didn't even bat an eyelid.
Then Lightbourne, who walked into the Jamaica Conference Centre with Youth and Culture Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, took the oath.
Seated behind Lightbourne throughout her testimony were government senators Hyacinth Bennett and Marlene Malahoo Forte, as well as Grange.
Lightbourne had JLP supporters worried before the commission broke for lunch in the early afternoon.
"Dorothy cah manage it," a concerned woman said. "She cah manage it."
But when asked later how the justice minister fared on the witness stand, the same woman who had been unsure of Lightbourne's capabilities said: "Dorothy good."
Following Barnett's examination of the witness, JLP attorney Frank Phipps' turn came to question Lightbourne.
"Rein in Frank," said A.J. Nicholson, the People's National Party (PNP) legal adviser, playing on Thursday's headline in The Gleaner, 'Rein in Sheriff'.
Not long after Nicholson's side comment, Phipps had his own humour to bring to the table, saying, "I don't know if anyone wants to rein me in on this ... ."
"Go Frank, go," was Nicholson's response.