SUBSEQUENT to politicians dragging the Stocks and Securities Ltd (SSL) multi-billion-dollar fraud into the now fierce election campaign, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has cautioned that extensive pre-trial publicity could see the court make certain orders to safeguard the integrity and fairness of the process.

Llewellyn issued the caution in a statement on Wednesday, telling the public to “be judicious with their public discourse in this matter, otherwise it may compromise the prosecution of the matter” as well as ongoing investigations into other aspects of the case.

While Llewellyn did not expand on the possible actions that could be taken by the court, there is precedent in a few matters in the past, among them the Keith Clarke and Jolyan Silvera cases which were closed to the public at the case management stage.

In the Silvera case, members of his family and the media were barred from entering the courtroom during his first appearance in January 2024. Silvera, a former People’s National Party (PNP) parliamentarian, is on trial for murder in relation to the death of his wife.

In her statement on Wednesday, Llewellyn said that since the SSL fraud came to the fore it has not escaped the attention of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and defence counsel, with whom she had recent discussions, that there has been a great amount of public discourse over the last few weeks relating to the matter.

“It has been noted that the public discourse has involved complainants in the present matter, media practitioners, members of the public — whether on social media or mainstream media — as well as other interested parties in the public domain,” the DPP said.

“Members of my team and I, being au fait with the case law on pre-trial publicity, abuse of process, and the overriding objective of fairness to the accused being at the heart of due process, have discussed our concern about the possible deleterious impact on the fairness of the impending trial proceedings. It is a critical principle within our jurisprudence that justice must not only be done, but must manifestly appear to be done,” Llewellyn said.

She said the concern of this possible negative impact on the fairness of the trial proceedings of the accused has been shared with her in a recent, without prejudice conversation with John Clarke, the attorney representing Jean Ann Panton, the former SSL employee who is the only person charged so far in the matter.

Panton is currently before the Home Circuit Court on a 22-count indictment pertaining to allegations of falsification of accounts, forgery, uttering forged documents, and larceny by a servant, offences under the Cybercrimes Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Since January 2023 when the $4.7-billion fraud was uncovered, the Opposition PNP and governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) have been trading harsh words on the matter that has impacted more then 200 investors, including track and field legend Usain Bolt.

In February this year Bolt catapulted the matter back into the spotlight when he expressed displeasure with the length of time it was taking for him to recoup his funds. Since his comments, he has been criticised, including by at least one prominent member of the JLP who suggested that he should bear some responsibility for his lost investment. That prompted a response from his attorney, who alleged victim-shaming.

Following on that, Opposition leader and PNP President Mark Golding used a political platform to declare that a future PNP Government will leave no stone unturned in determining where Bolt’s and other clients’ money went. He also promised a commission of enquiry into the matter to determine how the massive fraud went undetected by the State’s regulatory agency.

Earlier on Wednesday, JLP communications spokesman Marlon Morgan denounced Golding for making what he said were reckless, false, and misleading statements on the SSL issue.

He also said that Golding appeared to ignore confirmation from local authorities and word from Panton that fraud was taking place at SSL from as far back as 2012 when the PNP was in office.

In her statement on Wednesday, the DPP said that while her office acknowledges and respects the constitutional right of every citizen to freely express themselves on any subject of their choosing — whether privately or in the public domain within the parameters allowed by law — she felt obliged to issue a gentle reminder to the public that in the court of law, fairness to the accused, who is innocent until proven guilty by evidence given in court, is a critical principle of law and practice which the courts guard jealously.

“The court of public opinion has no such legal safeguards, but unfortunately the pre-trial publicity as well as excessive public discourse can possibly undermine the fairness of the trial, and has done so in previously decided cases. This case is a very complex one with voluminous material and there are still ongoing investigations into other aspects of the matter involving SSL which are similarly complex,” the DPP said.

She also said the prosecution, including the investigators, “would be grateful if the public regards the case of Rex v Jean Ann Panton as sub judice” .