Legal loss

Barbados’ legal fraternity has lost a stalwart, a courageous advocate, and a lawyer whose courtroom craft was “par excellence”.

Judges, prosecutors, and several other legal minds paid that tribute to late prominent attorney-at-Ezra Alleyne as they expressed sadness at his passing.

Alleyne died on Sunday at the age of 78.

Madam Justice Jaqueline Cornelius called him a “courageous advocate” and a “delightful colleague”, adding that “most of us as younger attorneys” admired him at the Bar.

“Certainly in terms of appearing before us in court, he has always been extremely courteous and well prepared. The Bar really has lost a stalwart and one with a strong institutional memory of how the courts were run and should be run,” the High Court judge told Barbados TODAY.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alliston Seale described Alleyne as an affable person who was extremely mannerly and always exuded professional courtesies and courtroom decorum.

“He has always respected young attorneys. I have never seen him brash, I have never seen him perturbed, and I have never seen him show disrespect for any young attorney regardless of how junior the call was, and that is something I will surely miss him for. I am really, really saddened by his passing, I know he will be sadly missed,” Seale said.

He said he had also admired Alleyne’s “courtroom craft” which he said was never confrontational no matter who he was interacting with.

“The man’s courtroom craft was par excellence, honestly. He has never been one to be embroiled in conflict with witnesses, so his personality was such that he lulled witnesses into a sense of comfort that sometimes they answered questions that I don’t even think they wanted to answer in the way that they wanted to answer because he was never, ever confrontational. That is one of the things that I must admit that I lack and I loved that part of his personality – to make a witness feel so comfortable – especially not one of his witnesses, a witness from the other side – that they fell into a sense of false confidence.

“His courtroom craft was top-notch,” the Deputy DPP added.

Similar sentiments were expressed by two of this country’s Queen’s Counsels.

“I think I was one of the privileged few who was able to see Ezra in his prime – although I probably still didn’t even see that, probably caught the tail end of his prime,” said Andrew Pilgrim Q.C.

“I was always impressed by the fact that Ezra was someone who did not rely exclusively on charm. Our Bar has produced a number of charming advocates over the years, but Ezra did not rely on charm exclusively because he was charming and he could lull witnesses into a kind of false sense of security with that charm.

“He also possessed the ability to cross-examine people based on a clear understanding of fundamental legal principles and the law involved in the particular matter that he was dealing with. He was always able to combine those two things and get what he wanted from witnesses,” Pilgrim added.

The senior attorney said Alleyne was always very pleasant.

“And I really appreciated that warmth because the Bar can be a dog-eat-dog place, and to have somebody who was looking out for you . . . and to have that welcoming regard from somebody like Ezra who was senior and respected, I always appreciated that,” said Pilgrim, adding that he was particularly saddened by Alleyne’s passing as he had only the day before gone to donate blood for him.

Michael Lashley Q.C. recalled that Alleyne was always willing to assist young legal minds.

“I think Ezra was a role model for young lawyers in terms of appearing in criminal trials. He was a great advocate, very skillful, and I think Barbados has lost one of the foremost and best criminal lawyers we have seen around these courts,” he said.

“I recall as a young lawyer Mr Alleyne always sitting down with us and giving us tips, giving us cases to read and to know how to prepare yourself when you go into the criminal courts, particularly in the Assizes. I think we have lost an outstanding Barbadian and a legal giant.”

Criminal attorney Desmond Sands added that Alleyne always showed “a lot of energy” in his legal life.

“When you see him in his personal life, he is always warm to you. It certainly will be a loss to the fraternity, a loss to his family, and certainly a loss to his friends,” he said.

Others in the legal fraternity mourned Alleyne’s passing and extended condolences to his wife, Tassiea, and children Daun, Gayle, Alistair, and Nathan.

fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb