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THE PRIME MINISTER says the issue of disqualification of Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, from a Miami lawsuit against people charged in the Piarco corruption case never arose since the AG had recused himself from the matter.
Told that the judgment from the US judge clearly stated that Armour and the US law firm were disqualified, Dr Rowley said the ruling had nothing to do with "any automatic disqualification" but about a recusal. Rowley was addressing a media conference at Piarco International Airport on Saturday, ahead of his departure to Suriname for a Caricom summit.
The transcript of the court hearing in Miami on April 27 states, "After considering the position of the parties, I do find that the automatic disqualification does in fact apply. While you may have been disqualified Mr Armour or somehow replaced as a party for this case, I am extending the disqualification to the law firm as well."
US judge Reemberto Diaz, in an official order granting the motion to disqualify Armour and Sequor Law on May 2, stated at the penultimate paragraph: "The court finds that Sequor Law is automatically disqualified under these rules from acting as (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago's) counsel due to Mr Armour's prior legal representation of defendant (Brian Kuei Tung) for five years in the parallel criminal proceeding which are the same or substantially similar to the civil action brought by (TT) before this court. Sequor Law was working with and for Mr Armour, who was prohibited from representing (TT) in a matter directly adverse to his former client."
The judge added that for those reasons set out in the hearing of April 27, he granted the motions of Kuei Tung and Steve Ferguson "to disqualify Mr Armour and Sequor Law" as lawyers for TT.
Armour, on June 4, in response to questions sent by the media, issued a statement saying that he had recused himself from the US$40 million civil asset forfeiture lawsuit and referred the issue to the US lawyers for advice. He said in discussion with the firm on March 30, two weeks after he was appointed AG, he settled an outstanding payment to the firm, signed off an agreement for a co-operating conspirator who agreed to pay restitution and testify against the Piarco accused in criminal matters locally and other administrative matters.
He did not say he was disqualified then. In a second statement on June 8, the AG reissued his previous release which defined his role as a junior attorney, doing legal research and taking notes for Kuei Tung.
[caption id="attachment_962988" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. -[/caption]
His statements which were deposed in a sworn affidavit in the US court conflicted with the public record which showed Armour was a senior counsel in 2003, and had played a major role as a defence attorney. In another statement issued on June 20, Armour claimed he had a lapse in memory and was never afforded an opportunity to correct the affidavit before the US court even though he sat in his hotel room in Europe while on vacation with the phone all day on April 27, the day of the hearing of the motion, for an opportunity to correct the record.
"The opportunity to file an affidavit correcting the record was never afforded to me. I was surprised that the judge had made an order disqualifying me and the (government's) US lawyers on the 27th April," Armour said in his June 20 statement, adding that there was no opportunity afforded to him to correct the record.
A perusal of 40-page transcript of the hearing on April 27, does not reflect any attempts by attorneys from Sequor Law to put in any additional affidavits nor point out that Armour's previous affidavit was not entirely factual.
When pressed on the issue, Rowley said the matter being debated by the media had nothing to do with the AG's recusal but rather "it has to do with people stealing money from this country and trying to get away as their entitlement evading the day in court and making as much confusion, blowing as much smoke as you can."
He said Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had no moral authority to raise issues against the Armour and described her as "the queen of Section 34."
His reference was to an amendment of the Preliminary Enquiries (Indictable Offence) Act in 2014 which the then PNM Opposition led by Rowley supported in Parliament which allowed people charged with serious crimes, such as fraud, to apply to have their cases dismissed if they had not faced trial in ten years since being charged. The amendment had implications for the Piarco case and the accused.
The law was repealed in an emergency session of Parliament and then justice minister Herbert Volney was fired by Persad-Bissessar after public protests led by Rowley and others.
Asked about the ruling by the Privy Council on June 26, which quashed the committal of two former government ministers, a group of businesspeople, and companies charged in Piarco I criminal cases, Rowley said he did not agree with the interpretation of the ruling as asked.
He was asked if he had any comment on the court's finding that the actions of an attorney general under the PNM would have affected the Piarco matter which was now in jeopardy after 22 years before the courts.
"No, I have no comment on that. I am not sure your interpretation is what the court said. The court indicated, I read the judgment too and the way you have couched it is not exactly what the court has said and the jeopardy that you talking about fortunately, fortunately I don't have to answer for any of those things so I do not pretend to have to answer for them."
The Privy Council, in its analysis of the appellants’ case, linked the conviction of former prime minister Basdeo Panday, the move to impeach former chief justice Satnarine Sharma, former chief magistrate Sherman McNicolls’ corruption claims against Sharma and the intervention of former attorney general John Jeremie. The panel supported the position that there was sufficient information in the public domain to support a claim of apparent bias and quashed the 2008 committal.
Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard has said he needed time to decide on whether the matter should start over before a new magistrate, sent straight to the High Court, or be discontinued.
 
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