The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

LONG Island MP Loretta Butler-Turner said yesterday she is moving “full speed ahead” with her planned lawsuit against State Minister for Legal Affairs Damian Gomez and she intends to make an “example out of him” in court.

Speaking with The Tribune, Mrs Butler-Turner said she is meeting with her lawyer today and papers should be filed before the end of the week.

Last week, she announced her intention to sue Mr Gomez, QC, for criminal defamation of character following revelations that the Central and South Eleuthera MP intends to file Election Court petitions to declare both her seat and that of Killarney MP Dr Hubert Minnis vacant for alleged violation of the Constitution’s conflict of interest rules.

“I am definitely still suing him. I am meeting with my Queen’s Counsel (on Tuesday) and I am moving ahead. I am not playing games with Mr Gomez,” Mrs Butler-Turner said yesterday.

“I don’t want anyone less than a QC going up against Mr Gomez so that is why it took a while, but I am moving ahead. A lot of the paperwork has already started. What Damian is trying to do is rely on the probate of my father’s will but … everything is in a trust.

“Nothing was vested to me and that is why I am certain he is wrong about this. People are advising me not to sue because this is what happens in politics, but once he impugned my character I have to make an example of him. So it’s not just a threat. I am not dropping this. He was so adamant even though his argument is flimsy. The PLP is attempting to build a case of negative things against me – I will not let them.”

The former Free National Movement deputy leader previously told The Tribune that she will not rest until she “unequivocally” proves that she is innocent of the accusations.

In response, Mr Gomez fired back insisting that “something is wrong” with Mrs Butler-Turner’s “defensiveness” because his bid to remove her and the FNM leader from the House of Assembly was not to prove that they were guilty of “skulduggery” but to show that they are in contravention of Article 49 of the Constitution.

That clause states that if a member of Parliament does not get approval from the House of Assembly or the Senate through a resolution to have a contract with the government, his/her seat should be declared vacated by the Election Court.

The alleged conflict with Mrs Butler-Turner reportedly centres on a government department renting space from the Milo B Butler and Sons building.

Mrs Butler-Turner is adamant that she was not involved with this in any way. Mr Gomez has claimed he has documents to prove otherwise, but he did not make them public.

Last week Mr Gomez told The Tribune that this proposed legal battle, which he said was a personal decision and is being carried out by his attorneys, had nothing to do with the Christie administration or the Ministry of Legal Affairs.