FILE PHOTO - Kamloops city councillor Katie Neustaeter

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Katie Neustaeter

A Kamloops city councillor will live with the untested accusations that she defamed the city's mayor for at least several more weeks as a previously-scheduled hearing was delayed again.

BC Supreme Court Justice Jacqueline Hughes agreed to adjourn the case as Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson retained a lawyer at the last moment and asked to delay the matter so his new team can prepare.

Defendant and city councillor Katie Neustaeter was ready to argue the lawsuit should be tossed.

"I maintain that our position was right and the hearing should have gone on. Just because (Hamer-Jackson) didn't do any of his due diligence to make sure we could proceed doesn't mean that it should have been concluded," she said.

The mayor filed nothing in court and appeared to prepare little, if anything, for this week's hearing. If it went as planned, Hughes would have been asked to determine whether the defamation lawsuit is legitimate or it should be tossed as an attempt to silence political critics.

Hughes' decision came with specific conditions for Hamer-Jackson and his legal team to ensure they come to the fall hearing prepared.

"I do understand and very much respect the judge's decision, and I feel at peace about it," Neustaeter said. "I feel that this will ensure the best justice can be had."

Hamer-Jackson filed the lawsuit against her two years ago, claiming four instances of defamation. Three were in council email exchanges and one was a press conference in which she read a joint council statement aloud, rebuking the mayor.

"To have an individual change your reputation through his accusations... has taken a tremendous toll on me," she said. "That being said, I'm resolute in my determination to do the job that I set out to do and I refuse to let it interfere with my work more than it has to."

Hamer-Jackson said he retained Airdrie lawyer James Kitchen on Thursday, days before the Monday hearing. Kitchen wasn't present, but an associate at his firm, Jody Wells, represented Hamer-Jackson on July 7.

Wells, who wore flip-flops to the courtroom, argued on behalf of Kathrine Wunderlich last year during a lawsuit against the City of Kamloops. Though she has at least some experience in Kamloops, Hughes corrected her multiple times on proper procedure in a BC courtroom.

At the outset of the hearing, Hamer-Jackson was sent from the counsel table to the gallery as is practice in BC courts, for example. Wells later attempted to introduce new evidence to the court on Monday afternoon, which Hughes allowed but again instructed Wells on the correct protocol.

Neustaeter's lawyer, Daniel Reid, said Hamer-Jackson had months and dozens of reminders to file a response in court. He argued it was too late for the mayor to adjourn the hearing a third time.

Wells said it was because of Hamer-Jackson's "sheer ineptitude" that he didn't proceed with the lawsuit he started, but he should be allowed more time to prepare now that he again has representation.

Since starting the lawsuit, his two previous lawyers launched court actions in a bid to have unpaid legal bills enforced.

The hearings are expected to resume in September.

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