UPDATE: Advance Marketing files case in Appeal Court on order of Judge!
Judge Ellis had on November 6, 2012 told lawyers for Advance Marketing and Professionals Services, the parent company of Virgin Islands News Online, that they were in the wrong court seeking a set aside of a Default Judgement.
The Default Judgement was awarded to Dr. Hubert O’Neal on September 24, 2012 by Master Charlesworth Tabor because the defendant’s name was changed on the libel suit about an article written about a company involving Dr. O’Neal and therefore the company missed a dead line of the court to file a few papers.
Advance Marketing and Professional Services then requested via the High Court that the Default Judgement issued be set aside because of error of law by Master Tabor, so the case can go to trial.
However, high court Judge Vicki-ann Ellis told both sides that was not within her jurisdiction to set aside the Default Judgement from another High Court Judge despite law cases and other precedents presented by Advance Marketing and Professional Services’ lawyers.
Judge Ellis said Advance Marketing and Professional Services will have to go to the court of Appeal to ask for the set aside of judgement, which most legal observers say should be easily won.
Both sides agreed with Judge Ellis' decision and in fact lawyers for Dr. O’Neal augured the same thing in their presentation before Judge Ellis.
Therefore, there has been no case won as again erroneously reported by the pro-Government Online News site, BVI Platinum News.
Virgin Islands News Online is now the number one online news site in both the British and US Virgin Islands and has knocked the pro-government news site out of that spot some six months ago. Many have said that is the main reason the pro-government site BVI Platinum News goes out of its way to write negative articles about Virgin Islands News Online.
Virgin Island News Online still stands by its story on Robinson O’Neal Enterprises and Cassandra Titley O’Neal Phd.,
Background/ Statement issues by Advance Marketing and Professional Services on Nov. 7, 2012
Virgin Islands News Online has found it necessary to respond to a very misleading article, which appeared on one of the pro-government Online News site Platinum on November 7, 2012 under the headline “Willock Appeal Dismissed in libel case involving VINO: Court to assess Damages”
We were not surprised to have received many phone calls from some of our over eight thousands readers per day, advertisers and supporters in regard to the deliberately erroneous article by our main competitor BVI Platinum News, which was posted today, November 7, 2012 with their false and politically motivated claim.
All the court did was to ask that the matter of the Default Judgement be filed before the court of Appeal as the high Court was not the correct court, so therefore the matter is not over.
Firstly, no libel case was brought against Virgin Islands News Online. There was a case brought against Advance Marketing and Professional Services, to which the name of our former Director, the esteemed Julian Willock, still appears on our trade license, and was later added as the first defendant.
Furthermore, BVI Platinum News’ headline in their article is grossly misleading, as on September 24, 2012 Master Charlesworth Tabor sided on a Default Judgement, which means that the case never even went to trial.
This means Advance Marketing and Professional Service and Virgin Islands News Online, which wrote the article, never had an opportunity to prove the facts of the case in a court of law.
What is a Default Judgement?
A Default Judgement is a judgement in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgement in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a request of the court in a timely manner without due and good reason.
The failure to take action is the default, not that Dr. O’Neal won his case in a court of law or that the story written by the news site was libelous. In fact, most legal experts that looked at the case had already concluded that Dr. O’Neal could not have won in court since what the news site reported was already public information filed at the High Court Registry, therefore it could not have been considered libel.
A Default Judgement can therefore be compared to a forfeit victory in sports.
However, before the name change of the first defendant Advance Marketing and Professional Services was dealing with the matter and had retained counsel from overseas; however, when Mr. Willock’s name was added to the case as the first defendant he took over the case from the parent company Advance Marketing and Professional Services and he requested more time to obtain his own legal counsel.
Mr. Willock then retained the law firm of Thornton Smith to deal with the matter. In the hearing of November 6, 2012 the Judge simply told both parties that they were in the wrong court.
Virgin Islands News Online stands by its original story that we reported since it was based on facts about Robinson O’Neal Enterprises and Cassandra Titley O’Neal Phd., who is the administrator of her late father, Amos Jerome O'Neal’s estate. This news site is never in the habit of pursuing any personal attack and agenda against anyone, unlike two other media houses - one online news site and a tabloid newspaper.
With well over two and a half years of operation, Virgin Islands News Online has already established itself as solid, creditable, accurate, objective and not linked to any political party or family. That is why we are free to be objective and report only the truth, unlike others who can never say that.
That is why people trust this news site exclusively within government and all over to call us daily with inside information and tips on injustice and unfair practices.
This, we might add, is the basis of professional journalism and what all reporters in the Virgin Islands should aspire to achieve.
We say again to those in the media houses, who continue to delight in the many failed attempts to be critical of Virgin Islands News Online, we humbly and politely suggest that one attack against the media house is an attack against all. Today it may be this news site, tomorrow it may be yours.
We continue to thank our many readers, advertisers and our team of reporters around the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean and also our other media partners locally and regionally for the support, wise counsel and commitment to free speech, facts, and objectivity.
Virgin Islands News Online will be here for a long, long time as we are not going anywhere anytime soon.
Please click link to see story that was the subject of the libel suit by Dr. Hubert O’Neal.
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/update-company-involving-dr-hubert-oneal-wins-case-against-family-member
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38 Responses to “UPDATE: Advance Marketing files case in Appeal Court on order of Judge!”
End of story.
- Immature
- Delusional
- Unfit for any journalism job
- An enormous embarrassment to the media house in the BVI