Default judgment set aside
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE case of defamation filed by the Hon. Mark Brantley against Hensley Daniel and Freedom FM is expected to proceed after a default judgment, which was obtained earlier this year, was set aside in the Nevis Circuit Court.
Counsel for both Daniel and Freedom FM - Sylvester Anthony - told SKNVibes that today (July 3) Her Ladyship Justice Lorraine Williams delivered a written judgment informing of her decision.
Late last year, Brantley initiated legal action in the Court citing that Daniel, while speaking on Freedom FM, uttered statements about a company; statements Brantley claimed that were defamatory in nature.
According to Anthony - who has represented Freedom FM since the beginning of the matter - the default judgment was granted because Daniel, whom he now represents, did not file his defence on time.
“Of course, a default judgment had been obtained by him because Mr. Daniel had not filed his defence on time. We applied to the Court to set aside that default judgment and the Court found favour with our arguments. And this morning the Court ruled in our favour, setting aside the default judgment and giving Mr. Daniel seven days in which to file his defence.”
Anthony explained the grounds, which he, assisted by his associate Angelina Sookoo, forwarded and argued before the Court as to why the default judgment should be set aside.
“When you get a default judgment there are certain mandatory conditions you must satisfy to get it set aside. One, you have to show the Court that you have applied promptly...
“In our case, we filed the application within five days of the decision. The second is we had to show the Court that he had a good reason for not filing it on time. The third is that you have to show the Court that you have a realistic prospect of defending, which means that you had a viable defence. The Court found that we had satisfied the three conditions...in order to set aside the default judgment.”
SKNVibes made efforts to contact Brantley for a comment on the Court’s recent decision, but his mobile telephone appeared to be off.
This publication understands that he is being represented by the law firm of Daniel, Brantley and Associates.
Timeline
? Defamation suit was filed by Brantley on December 16, 2013
? Default judgment was obtained on March, 12, 2014
? Daniel - through his counsel - applied for the default judgment to be set aside March 17, 2014
? Counsel for both sides argued their case before Justice Williams on May 28, 2014
? Default judgment set aside July 3, 2014was obtained 3rd July 2014
