Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher attacked the accuracy of a trial judge's court notes during an appeal hearing for two convicted drug traffickers this week.

She claimed her client would not get a fair appeal hearing because Bermuda's justice system did not have a professional court reporting system and the courts has to rely upon written notes maintained by the trial judge.

Other jurisdictions often have professional clerks who maintain verbatim records of the court's proceedings.

Ms Christopher represents convicted drug trafficker Richard Ricardo Steede, 39. His accomplice Lang Onley, 40, is representing himself in the appeal.

The pair was found guilty of importing, possessing and handling cannabis and cocaine with intent to supply on March 31, 1998, when Police arrested the pair.

Referring to Ms Christopher's claim of faulty court notes, Crown counsel Dorien Taylor pointed out that she was not at the conviction trial.

He said: "That was a matter that should have been taken up with the trial judge. In this instance, there's no supporting evidence that the record, in itself, is defective.'' Ms Christopher said there were mistakes throughout the notes like mislabelled pages, typos and references to misplaced information.

She said the appellants would not have a fair appeals trial because the conviction trial records were not "accurate''.

Ms Christopher also attacked the evidence presented during the trial and the directions the trial judge gave to the jury.

Evidence included a golf club with a hollow shaft that contained traces of cocaine resin.

Ms Christopher said her client was ignorant of the shaft's hollow core and was therefore unknowingly in possession of the drug.

"It's not normally anticipated that golf clubs contain anything,'' she said.

Turning to the jury's direction, she said: "It's our submission, (the trial judge) did not give a clear direction.''