Nicole in Nevis
I remember her for a number of sterling
qualities. First, and foremost, the court
was always able to rely on Nicole to fearlessly give it the law on the
issues. She was never one to conceal a
legal authority, no matter how adverse it was to her client’s case. She never attempted to cover up a fact that
her client would have difficulty explaining.
She was never known to cut corners in her preparation and
presentation. She would calmly and
eloquently show how there was always another side to any difficult point.
Grenada, 2006
Nicole was a superb cross-examiner. She had the uncanny ability to enable a
witness, by her questions, to prove by his answers that he was not telling the
truth. This is a skill at which no Bar
in the Eastern Caribbean can better the members of the Saint Vincent Bar. But, Nicole was one of its exemplars, a
master of the skill. It was a marvel to
observe, and left the observer envious.
Nicole was a high-quality professional in whatever
field of law her client’s case fell. It did
not seem to matter that the case was bedded in a minefield of constitutional
law and administrative law, or in the bathos of the Matrimonial Proceedings
Act. She always came prepared with
copies of the authorities on which she relied, available for the court and for
her opponent. And, this was in the days
before exchange of authorities and witness statements was made compulsory by
the rules of court.
Nicole with Tapley Seaton QC in Montserrat, 2005
Nicole’s practice was not limited to her home State
of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
When called on, she did not hesitate to take up an unprofitable and
unpopular dock brief in a distant country of the Eastern Caribbean, no matter how
hopeless the case might be.
Nicole was a senior executive of the Saint Vincent Bar
Association during the time that I took the Criminal Assizes. She was a stalwart in the struggle to improve
prison conditions. During one particularly
difficult Assizes, several young men were charged with murder for deaths occasioned
mainly by fights mixed with alcohol. In
each of the cases, the prosecution accepted pleas of guilty to manslaughter. All that was left was for the court to
sentence the men. Given the
circumstances in each of the cases, the appropriate sentence at that time would
have been several years’ imprisonment. Given
the conditions in Her Majesty’s Prison in Kingstown at that time, multiple rape
and HIV infection was a certainty for any young man sent to that place. Neither condoms nor anti-retroviral drugs
were available in prison. Death is not a
prescribed penalty for manslaughter. The
inevitable result of a sentence of even a few years imprisonment would be the
certain death of the young men.
Both the prosecution and defence counsel, who was
frequently Nicole herself, left the court in no doubt that they would support
whatever sentence the court decided was proper in the circumstances. The decision the court made was to sentence
these young men to terms of imprisonment, suspended for three years. Three years imprisonment was the maximum term
that the law of Saint Vincent permitted to be suspended. The result of such a sentence was that the
young men in question were immediately released from custody. If they did not commit another crime during
the three years, they would not serve any time in that prison. Not a single radio or newspaper journalist
published an article critical of the court’s decision to impose suspended
sentences in each of those sentences. I
always suspected that Nicole worked behind the scenes to explain the court’s
rationale to the journalists who wrote up the court reports.
I was pleased only a few years after being transferred
as judge from Saint Vincent to another jurisdiction to learn that the famed
British Inspector of Prisons, General Sir
David Ramsbotham, had recommended the construction of a new prison. Within a few years the then new
administration of Prime Minister Dr
Ralph Gonsalves had raised the funds to do so and carried into effect this
most desirable reform.
With Ruggles Ferguson, Pesident of the OECS Bar Association, St Lucia, 2009
In later years, I knew Nicole as an officer of the
OECS Bar Association, where she famously pioneered, and single-handedly (save
for the dedicated staff in her Chambers) initiated and successfully ran the
annual Law Fair. The Law Fair has grown
from strength to strength, and is now so well established that it can be
described without exaggeration as Nicole’s most enduring monument. In her memory, I wish the Law Fair increasing
success in the years to come.
Written for the Grenada September
2015 OECS Bar Association Law Conference and Law Fair magazine.
