Legal Cheek
High Court judge finds claimant was ‘coached’ through evidence
A man found to have worn smart glasses connected to his mobile phone during cross-examination has had his case thrown out after a judge ruled his evidence to be “unreliable and untruthful”.
The extraordinary scenes unfolded during a trial earlier this year, in which Laimonas Jakstys was seeking to establish his directorship of a property development company with assets including a flat in London and land in Tonbridge, Kent.
Things began to unravel early in Jakstys’ cross-examination, when the judge noticed that he “seemed to pause quite a bit” before answering questions.
Counsel then told the judge she could hear interference coming from around the witness and asked whether he might be wearing smart glasses. The interpreter sitting alongside Jakstys in the witness box confirmed she could hear it too.
“It was later ascertained that Mr Jakstys was wearing smart glasses,” the judge noted in her ruling. “I asked him to remove them before continuing with his cross examination. After a few further questions, when the interpreter was in the process of translating a question, Mr Jakstys’ mobile phone started broadcasting out loud with the voice of someone talking. There was clearly someone on the mobile phone talking to Mr Jakstys. He then removed his mobile phone from his inner jacket pocket.”
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Claimant caught using smart glasses during cross-examination
