Prosecutor threatens to sue Wildman
Prosecutor Kathy-Ann Pyke on Thursday threatened to sue attorney Hugh Wildman over alleged defamation of character while the defence lawyer was conducting cross-examination of a witness in the murder trial of six policemen.
The witness, a retired forensic analyst, was being grilled by Wildman on whether or not she had discussions with Pyke in the corridors of the Supreme Court earlier this week before she began to testify about swabs she tested for gunpowder residue.
She was giving her testimony in relation to the January 12, 2013 shooting deaths of Matthew Lee, Ucliffe Dyer and Mark Allen. The men were killed by the police in an alleged shootout on Acadia Drive in Barbican, St Andrew.
Wildman suggested to the witness that she and Pyke had a lengthy discussion in the corridor.
The witness responded saying that they only sat for a short time.
“Prior to me giving evidence here on Wednesday, I had a discussion with Miss Pyke. Yes, that discussion was in relation to this case. No, we did not speak about the evidence I was about to give. I pointed out something to her. While I was there I found something out and so I indicated to her and then she came to find out what it was. I discovered something on my certificate and so I indicated it to her a few minutes after she came,” the witness told the court in the presence of a seven-member jury.
Pyke jumped to her feet to raise an objection, pointing out that the analyst was a witness for the prosecution and that there should be no surprise that they spoke to each other. The prosecutor then threatened to sue Wildman, as she has repeatedly done during the trial, accusing the defence lawyer of defamation of character.
In response to Pyke’s threat, Wildman said, “Bring it on”.
After Pyke took her seat, Wildman continued his cross-examination of the witness and got her to tell the court what their conversation in the corridor was about.
“I pointed out something to her in relation to the case. I indicated to her that there was an error on one page of the certificate,” she explained.
Wildman chose not to probe any further about the meeting in the corridor.
