Guerra: No comment on law lords criticism

SENIOR COUNSEL Theodore Guerra yesterday said he preferred not to comment on the criticisms levelled against him by law lords of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The law lords described Guerra’s conduct in the prosecution of Alexander Benedetto and William Labrador at the murder trial in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), as being wholly at variance with the way a prosecuting counsel and a minister of justice should behave.

The comments were made when the law lords delivered their judgment freeing Benedetto and Labrador of the murder conviction on April 7. Hearing the murder appeal were Lord Bingham of Cronhill, Lord Steyn, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Hutton and Lord Rodger of Earlsferry. Lord Hope delivered the judgment. Guerra’s conduct was drawn to the law lords' attention by Labrador’s attorney Fitzgerald QC, who had argued that Labrador did not get a fair trial because Guerra’s cross examination of Labrador was in an oppressive manner. Fitzgerald also accused Guerra of using terms which were xenophobic and inflammatory in his address to the jury. The Lordships agreed with Fitzgerald saying there were various aspects of Guerra’s conduct which called for comment. They noted that regrettably some parts of Guerra’s speech to the jury made use of inadmissable and irrelevant material. They also said that there was more than a hint of xenophobia in the methods used by Guerra to develop his attack on Labrador’s credibility which was unfair. Benedetto and Labrador together with Michael Spicer and Evan George went on trial on April 20, 2001 for the January 14 murder of Lois McMillen.