Hagaman appeal fails at Supreme Court hurdle

Labour MP Andrew Little will receive a payment for his legal costs after Christchurch businesswoman Lani Hagaman failed in a Supreme Court bid to reopen a defamation case against him.

The Supreme Court ordered Hagaman to pay costs of $2500 to Little over the latest action. His lawyer will also seek costs for the earlier High Court and Court of Appeal hearings.

The court is expected to consider the lack of success of the Hagaman claims plus Little’s offer of a cash settlement.

The lawsuit against Little originally arose from comments he made when he was leader of the Labour Opposition in 2016 concerning a contract obtained by Scenic Hotels, a company owned by Lani Hagaman and her late husband Earl.

The Hagamans sued Little but a jury accepted his defence that the comments were covered by qualified privilege, which generally applies to comments made by politicians in Parliament.

The Hagamans then filed in the Court of Appeal in April 2017; however, Earl Hagaman died the following month.

The Court of Appeal ruled that defamation did not cover a deceased person.

In the latest hearing, Lani Hagaman’s lawyers argued that the jury trial amounted to a ‘‘special verdict’’ because while Lani Hagaman’s claims failed, the jury declined two of Earl Hagaman’s claims but could not agree on four others.

‘‘We do not see this argument as having sufficient prospects of success to justify the grant of leave to appeal,’’ the Supreme Court ruled.

A spokeswoman for Lani Hagaman said she could not comment as she was focused on the recent storm in the Pacific. Scenic Hotels manages a hotel in Niue that was the subject of Little’s comments.