A popular herbalist from Arima has been ordered to pay over $1 million in compensation to a veteran attorney-at-law for defamation.
The compensation, one of the largest in local defamation cases, was assessed by High Court Master Martha Alexander on Tuesday at the end of the lawsuit brought by attorney Alfred Pierre against Francis Morean, of Morean Street in Arima.
According to the evidence in the case, Pierre and Morean met over a decade ago when a doctor hired Pierre to file a lawsuit against Morean for unpaid rent and to evict him.
After Pierre won the case, Morean began hiring him for legal services.
In 2017, Pierre was retained to assist Morean with a land transaction. After the matter was completed, the men had a disagreement over whether Pierre had been paid for his services.
Pierre claimed that Morean agreed that his legal fees would be taken out of purchase price. Morean claimed that he paid separately, but did not produce any receipts.
Morean then took to his Facebook page where he began posting messages and videos, in which he made serious allegations about Pierre’s personal and professional life.
Morean also allegedly posted caricatures of Pierre together with his pre-action protocol letter, in which he (Pierre) threatened legal action for previous posts.
Pierre eventually obtained a default judgment against Morean as he did not appear in court for the lawsuit and was not represented by an attorney.
Pierre, a former teacher and police officer, has been an attorney for over 38 years and also runs several businesses.
In assessing the compensation, Alexander ordered that Morean pay $900,000 in general damages and $100,000 in exemplary damages to Pierre.
Morean was also ordered to pay the $66,724 in legal costs, which Pierre incurred in bringing the lawsuit.
Pierre was represented by Khemraj Ramkissoon, SC, Cherry-Ann Pottinger and Kera Cuffie-Antrobus.