Lensley Wolfe
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
A KINGSTON lawyer is suing Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe to recover damages for slander and/or assault, which he says took place on May 25 this year in the corridor of the Supreme Court building, in downtown Kingston.
The plaintiff, attorney Humphrey L. McPherson, is alleging that a client and several lawyers were present when the incident occurred.
In the writ of summons filed in the Supreme Court, the lawyer alleges that on May 25, he was waiting in the corridor near to Justice Horace Marsh's chambers to have his client's case heard, when the Chief Justice attacked him verbally.
"The defendant, who is the Chief Justice of Jamaica, in the presence of the plaintiff's client and other attorneys known to the plaintiff, in an unprovoked, personal, vile, menacing, threatening, belittling and disparaging manner, verbally attacked the plaintiff as being a brave man, of writing 'facety' letters, of wanting to disqualify judges and telling the plaintiff it is only a matter of time," the writ states.
The writ was filed on June 23. Mr. McPherson also filed a summons in the Supreme Court on August 16, for substituted service.
He told The Sunday Gleaner that no one wanted to serve the writ so he would be seeking to have it served by substituted service - that is, publishing it as an advertisement in the press.
"Tell him to get me arrested," was Mr. Wolfe's response when The Sunday Gleaner asked about the allegations on Wednesday.
"If I threaten him, he can get the police to arrest me," he added. The Chief Justice said further that Mr. McPherson knew that he could serve the writ personally.
Mr. McPherson said he had reported the matter to the General Legal Council and to the Jamaican Bar Association. He said he would be seeking "a substantial sum - at least $10 million" - in damages.
By way of background to the case, Mr. McPherson said that prior to the incident he had written to the Chief Justice asking for a certain judge to be disqualified from sitting in a case in which he was appearing.
Judges have immunity from lawsuits in respect to their actions, rulings and pronouncements while in court.
Chief Justice Wolfe is being sued by Mr. McPherson in his personal capacity, because when the incident allegedly happened, he was not on the Bench.
