PORT OF SPAIN – The South Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventists has been given a 28-day deadline to issue a public apology to a musician after he claimed that his photo had been used suggesting his involvement in the murder of special prosecutor, Randall Hector, on Old Years night.
The lawyer for Lou Lyons, the co-founder of the band, Freetown Collective, in the pre-action protocol letter, said his client suffered significant distress after an image of him attending a service at the church where the prosecutor had attended prior to his murder, had been shared on social media.
The image of Lyons had an accompanying caption alleging that he was not known to the congregation, was seen texting and speaking on his cellphone, and seen walking in the direction Hector was at when he was shot and killed.
But the attorney, Joel Roper, said that the musician is a longstanding member of the church and that “this development undoubtedly cast our client in a negative light and numerous members of the public as evinced by their comments on the various social media posts that shared the initial message started to assume the worst of our client and to associate him with being one of, if not the primary suspect in the tragic death of Mr Randall Hector”.
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) has since called for the urgent implementation of additional security measures for prosecutors and judicial officers following the “brutal murder” of Hector as he left a church in the capital.
Hector, 43, who had been attached to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for 10 years, before moving to the Office of the Attorney General and later into private practice, had still being contracted to represent the State in both criminal and civil matters.
Hector was gunned down on December 31, last year, as he walked out of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, with his wife and two young children. He will be buried on Thursday.
Media reports said that as Hector and his wife, among others, walked to their respective vehicles upon conclusion of the service, two vehicles pulled alongside Hector’s car and occupants opened fire on him, hitting him squarely in the chest. He was rushed to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Roper, in the pre-action protocol letter, dated January 6, and addressed to Pastor Leslie Moses, president of the South Caribbean Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, said his client’s reputation as a law-abiding citizen, legal professional and member of Freetown Collective was tarnished by the reckless dissemination of his image.
The lawyer said the accusations have adversely affected Lyon’s personal and professional life, jeopardising corporate sponsorship deals for the band and that the church’s agents acted negligently by releasing photos and false claims linking Lyons to the crime.
“The dissemination of the images of our client and the information shared alongside it adversely affected not only my client in his own personal life but also cast a shadow over the Freetown Collective band.
“Importantly, our client and the band were in the process of closing very important deals with corporate sponsors when his images were recklessly disseminated alongside harmful misinformation.
“Consequently, those deals are now in jeopardy as there still remains a negative cloud and/or shadow over the image and likeness of our client even though he has since put out a statement that sought to rectify the initial misinformation that was spreading quickly throughout the public via social media,” Roper said, adding that Lyons was a long-standing member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
In a Facebook post immediately after the incident, Lyons identified himself as the person in the video and wrote, “I am Lou Lyons of the band Freetown Collective. This is my image and likeness being shared with erroneous and false information. I’m not a suspect in any ongoing investigation. Please cease and desist from further dissemination.”
Lyons is demanding an immediate public apology proportional to the harm caused, confirmation or denial of whether the church edited and released the footage.
The letter said the “adverse effects of the reckless dissemination of misinformation were so obvious” that Pastor Bray of the Stanmore Avenue Church offered a private apology. However, Lyons insists on public measures to restore his image and that the image would have had to emanate from the church.
“It is also unarguable that the misuse of private photos that were in the possession of the Stanmore Avenue Seventh Day Adventist Church and by extension the South Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventist has adversely affected our client, including his personal and professional reputation,” Roper said.
Roper demanded that the church immediately issue and widely disseminate a press release with a public apology. He also requested that the church confirm or deny whether it or its officials edited the footage and released it into the public domain. (CMC)
