By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
CONTEMPT proceedings will continue against a lawyer who had accused a judge of bias, the judge in question ruled on Friday.
Keod Smith, the former attorney for controversial fashion designer Peter Nygard and previous Progressive Liberal Party member of parliament, must now appear before Justice Rhonda Bain on April 17 to explain to the court why he should not be imprisoned.
Justice Bain, in December, found Mr Smith guilty of contempt for the “scandalising” affidavits he filed which undermined the integrity of the judge and the judicial system. His then lawyer, Derek Ryan, was also informed that he "cannot escape liability” for the “scandalising” affidavits
At a contempt hearing a month later, Elliot Lockhart, QC, appeared for Smith and expressed his reservations about the proceedings and argued that the court had already arrived at a determination without first considering any evidence to refute the pair being guilty of contempt.
The judge ruled after a hearing on Friday that the court would proceed with notice against Smith to show cause why he should not be committed to prison.
In January 2014, Smith had filed a series of affidavits claiming that Justice Bain should recuse herself from a judicial review proceeding as she had made a series of decisions based on her affiliation with the Free National Movement (FNM).
Ten months later Smith attempted to withdraw the applications for the recusal of Justice Bain, notwithstanding a section of an affidavit filed in January, entitled “Justice Bain, who is she?”
He argued the judge once worked under former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, that she was appointed to a high-ranking position in the Attorney General’s Office because of her ties to the FNM and that her two sons were fathered by a person he claims is a close friend and advisor of Mr Ingraham.
Smith claimed that Justice Bain had made several rulings in favour of Fred Smith, who in the past had been affiliated with the FNM, and “can only be explained as coming about as a result of her bias”.
The proceedings concern a judicial review application filed by the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay, which is challenging an application by Mr Nygard to further develop his imposing Mayan-themed development in Lyford Cay and gain a lease for Crown land reclaimed from the sea without official approval.
The coalition claims that over the last 30 years, Nygard Cay has nearly doubled in size as a result of construction works undertaken without the appropriate permits and in a manner that had caused significant damage to the surrounding environment of Clifton Bay.
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