Photo by NZ HeraldThe jury in Labour leader Andrew Little's defamation trial has left to consider whether he has defamed hoteliers Earl and Lani Hagaman. Justice Karen Clark told the jury if they did consider those comments were defamatory, she had ruled the defence of qualified privilege applied in this case which gave Little protection. She said that privilege applied where a person had a moral, social or legal duty to make the comments they had. She told the jury to put aside any sympathies they might feel for any of those concerned, and any political views they might have. The jury has to decide on separate claims by Earl Hagaman and Lani Hagaman, both of which are based on comments in a press release by Little and five different broadcasts of interviews with Little.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 06, 2017 23:26 UTC