BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A lawyer was today (Nov. 23) sent to serve time at Her Majesty's Prison for being guilty of contempt of court, following the utterance of a certain phrase after the case he was defending was declared a mistrial.
Attorney-at-Law Denzil Hinds was sentenced by Justice Paul Dennis to serve 10 days in prison following a contempt hearing this afternoon at the Nevis High Court.
Hinds was defending a Nevisian and another young man who are facing charges of rape and robbery that was allegedly committed on November 23, 2010.
Thirteen witnesses were scheduled to testify at the trial that began on Monday (Nov. 19) on behalf of the prosecution, three of whom had already given evidence.
Hinds, while cross-examining, was said to be 'going off track' with the questions that he was putting to the witnesses as some were not relevant to the case.
He was also said to have been questioning the witnesses for excessive periods of time causing the trial to go way beyond the expected time.
It was also said that his manner towards the Court was abhorrent, especially when certain questions were dismissed by the judge, Justice Paul Dennis.
The judge had been warning Hinds since Monday about his manner of defence which was ignored. And after he had began shouting at the virtual complainant and put certain implications to her, Justice Dennis took action.
The judge declared the case a mistrial yesterday (Nov. 22) and Hinds' reply to that was "that is what I wanted all the time".
Upon hearing the statement made by Hinds, Justice Dennis found Hinds in contempt of Court.
At the contempt hearing, Hinds was provided a copy of the Court's transcript for the period 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. yesterday, which was around the time the mistrial was declared and he was found in contempt.
Hinds in turn requested a transcript for the entire case which Justice Dennis denied.
When Justice Dennis asked Hinds if he had anything to say before he was sentenced, he proceeded to ask for the full transcript, which again was denied.
The judge then read out the transcript and, before passing judgement, told Hinds that he [Justice Dennis] found him to be arrogant.
Justice Dennis said Hinds had no remorse for the manner in which he treated the alleged rape victim and that he was not contrite.
The judge also told Hinds that he would be making recommendations and he would be sending a copy of the transcript to the St. Christopher and Nevis Bar and all relevant bodies.
Hinds was then given his fate and was transported to Her Majesty's Prison where he would be residing for the next 10 days.
