by Linda Straker
- Application filed by Claudette Joseph to file a defence in a defamation lawsuit, dismissed
- Court agreed that Joseph did not satisfy conditions as prescribed by law
The Master of the High Court Grenada on Thursday, 28 January 2021 dismissed the application filed by Claudette Joseph to file a defence in a defamation lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell after she claimed that he was an investor in the failed shrimp farm project.
She attempted to file a defence after the allocated time, but with the court dismissing her application, Joseph, who is a lawyer by profession, now runs into the possibility of having a judgment that can see her paying thousands to Prime Minister Mitchell.
Joseph was represented in court by former Attorney General Cajeton Hood, while Dr Mitchell was represented by Nigel Stewart.
After hearing arguments by both attorneys on an application filed on behalf of Joseph, for permission to file a defence to Dr Mitchell’s suit, the Court agreed with Stewart’s submissions, that Joseph did not meet the necessary threshold or satisfy any of the conditions as prescribed by law, and proceeded to dismiss Joseph’s application.
“The legal effect is that Miss Joseph is not permitted to file a defence to Dr Mitchell’s suit and that judgment will be awarded in favour of Dr Mitchell,” said Stewart. His law firm highly anticipates that Joseph will appeal the ruling.
Background to the matter
Joseph, using broadcast outlets, claimed that Dr Mitchell was an investor in the failed aquaculture shrimp farm project. She pointed to a YouTube video as evidence of the claim. However, Dr Mitchell has denied that he was an investor in the project which was approved by the Citizenship by Investment Committee. The government in March 2019 announced an investigation into that project after it failed to materialise.
In December 2019, Joseph received a letter from the law firm of Nigel Stewart and Associates demanding that Joseph, who is the public relations officer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), cease and desist from repeating the claim; apologise and pay compensation in the amount of EC$350,000 within 7 days of receiving the pre-action protocol letter.
Efforts to reach Claudette Joseph for comment have been unsuccessful.
Linda Straker’s article can only be classified as “Deliberately Mischievous,” because the headline is erroneous, her claims are faulty, and relevant information relating to this issue, has been willfully omitted.
Very sad story..when he gets the money is he going to keep it.
national demonic congress will run this country down to the ground when they take office. THEY CANT EVEN HOLD THEIR PARTY TOGETHER AND THEY DONT HAVE A STRONG LEADERSHIP but they are there trying to cease kieth mitchell’s assets and stop Government Operations. They kicked out what was suppose to be something good to Grenada. CCC the only company building roads. They had also cut off funds from kuwait for the roads too.
national democratic congress or more like national defamation congress or national demonic congress. ndc is a terrible burden to this country. if the government nnp had nothing to do with ndc they would have been able to focus on their agenda in building back the country.
not everything is open to the public and not everything should be open to the public. you need to understand that rich governments that are able to take of their people such as singapore, united arab emirates, qatar and kuwait never open up their agendas to the public. if the government of grenada was able to do so this country would have been far ahead as of today.
thank god. these gold diggers out here only want kieth for his money and not who he is. bad mind women just want to come claim and take what he have. people dont understand what this man has been having gold diggers claiming cars and houses from him. good ol kieth is a good man and i trust he will do good for the country.
Any politician that does not lie, is not a politician! Plain and simple truth!
I agree with you. The NNP and the cabal that has become it’s leadership should be ashamed of their vindictive and abhorent behavior. Whether it is publicly embarrassing the leader of the opposition, suing private citizens, refusing to pay when they themselves lose in court, and boldly insisting bribe money is theirs, the good and proud people of Grenada deserve better. These lies and thuggish behaviors are not the examples our young people should be exposed to. Sadly, without oversight, the NNP continues to operate without vision, planning, and the understanding that their abuses will be exposed when they are no longer in control.
Lies can roll out of Keith’s mouth more easy than the truth. For him it is all about the money in his pocket. Grenada people, in his mind, are not important compared to him. And we must remember that he is the one helping China take over Grenada. The people deserve an honest leader… Keith is not the person for the job, he shines with greed.
I agree with you. The NNP and the cabal that has become it’s leadership should be ashamed of their vindictive and abhorent behavior. Whether it is publicly embarrassing the leader of the opposition, suing private citizens, refusing to pay when they themselves lose in court, and boldly insisting bribe money is theirs, the good and proud people of Grenada deserve better. These lies and thuggish behaviors are not the examples our young people should be exposed to. Sadly, without oversight, the NNP continues to operate without vision, planning, and the understanding that their abuses will be exposed when they are no longer in control.
haha what about china taking over grenada. propaganda is see. you just only buy into foolish american propaganda same people who are a couple miles away from us and their leaders havent come back to step foot on your grenadian soil. haha you people will continue to suffer if you keep dragging onto the feet of americans. AMERICA NEVER DO ANYTHING FOR US. I WANT CHINA TO COME HERE AND TEACH COUNTRIES A LESSON. You only lose to what you dont contribute to. CHINA IS WELCOME HERE TO RUN OUR COUNTRIES AND GET YOU LAZY PEOPLE WORKING ON YOUR FEET
what you mean grenadian people are not important to him. hahaha you evil people go to hell for being so ungrateful. if it wasnt for this great man we wouldnt be having good roads to drive on, electricity and a good education system. he has built this country from nothing. all you see today is through kieth mitchell government. what about ndc???? ndc cut salaries people went un employed and the country was about to fall apart. you should check the gdp from 2009-2013. It has decreased by a huge percentage. you people so ungrateful.
Maybe you don’t drive and you fly in the sky. Last I checked the roads are riddled with pot holes especially in St. George. All the money from CBI that supposed to go in the National Transformation Fund where is it….. all these people that received citizenship. How come the nation hasn’t been ‘transformed’. Wake up Grenada. Our government has sold us out for foreign money
i think you forgot that they have been going to teachers and public servants. the same people who put gun to government head for moneys to buy japanese garbage.
keith let it run off your shoulders, you lie everyday about where all the money has gone you were given to support the people of grenada and you never distributed it.