A UNITED STATES appeals court has affirmed the disqualification of Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, and a Miami law firm, from representing Government in the multi-million-dollar civil asset forfeiture case linked to the construction of the Piarco Airport terminal building 22 years ago.

On Wednesday, Judges Eric Hendon, Monica Gordo and Alexander Bokor, sitting in the Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal, affirmed the April ruling of Circuit Court judge Reemberto Diaz who approved a motion to disqualify Armour and Sequor Law from representing the Government.

The motion before Diaz was filed by attorneys for former government minister Brian Kuei Tung – who Armour once represented in TT – to strike out the lawsuit and disqualify the AG and the law firm. Also supporting the motion was businessman Steve Ferguson. Both men were represented by attorneys in the US court.

In the two-page ruling, obtained by Newsday, the judges referred to cases on the disqualification of counsel which leaves it to the “sound discretion of the trial court,” once made within the confines of applicable law and expressed or implied findings, supported by evidence.

The judges opined the burden of proof was met to support the disqualificaton of Armour and Sequor Law.

[caption id="attachment_998920" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC - Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]

This latest for the AG, came on the same day he sought to explain the State's failure to defend itself in a malicious prosecution lawsuit brought by nine men acquitted of the murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman. With no defence, the State was ordered to pay over $20m in compensation to the nine.

Efforts to elicit a response from the AG to his second loss in the US courts on the Piarco Inquiry matter proved futile.

The AG filed an appeal on June 1, after he and Sequor Law were disqualified. A motion to expedite hearing of the appeal was denied, and it was heard on January 17.

Armour said he disclosed his apparent conflict of interest to Sequor Law, at his initial meeting on March 30, two weeks after his appointment as AG, and was relying on the firm’s legal advice.

He nevertheless still signed-off on several related matters, including an agreement for a co-operating witness to testify against the Piarco accused in criminal proceedings in TT, and settlement of invoices of the law firm, among other matters.

In a sworn affidavit, Armour claimed he was “walled off” by the law firm after he disclosed he had been one of Kuei Tung’s lawyers. He described himself in that affidavit as a junior lawyer – basically a note-taker – who had a minimal role in Kuei Tung’s defence. But public records conflicted with Armour's recollection.

On June 20, Armour admitted to a memory lapse when he filed his affidavit on April 24, and was prepared to correct the record on April 27, while the US court was sitting to hear the motions, even though he was on vacation in Europe at that time.

An examination of the court’s transcript of