THE original lawyers at the trial of the two south Armagh men accused of murdering a Newry postal worker, Mr Frank Kerr, may be ordered to reveal discussions they might have had with the trial judge before the case was aborted in February.
The lawyers for Mr Declan McComish and Mr Kevin Donegan from Jonesboro, and prosecuting counsel, were ordered to "allow themselves to be interviewed by solicitors" about discussions they may have had with the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Brian Hutton, in his chambers about the case.
The order was made by new trial judge Mr Justice Kerr following defence applications on behalf of Mr McComish (28), of Regina Park and Mr Donegan (39), of Bayview, at Belfast Crown Court last week. Under their code of conduct, counsel are prevented from disclosing to their clients details of discussions they may have had with judges about their cases.
Yesterday Mr Justice Kerr said the system, recently endorsed by the Court of Appeal, had served both the "Bar and the bench well" and should be retained, but that in the "exceptional circumstances in this case" the original lawyers could be interviewed by the men's solicitors.
The trial of the two Jonesboro men, who deny murdering the postal worker during a six man armed raid in November 1994, has been adjourned until today to enable the lawyers to be interviewed. The men's new counsel have told the court they need to know what may have been discussed in Sir Brian's chambers before making an application to have the case halted because of "abuse of process".