Sharina Tuzo's lawyer last night condemned Government and the courts for not providing stenographers for such a ground-breaking legal case.

Philip Perinchief said if a civil case such as the Bermuda Fire insurance case had a stenographer, then one should be provided for a major criminal case which is setting a legal precedent.

The Tuzo case is the first time a Bermuda court tried someone of manslaughter on the grounds of gross negligence, so a full record of the case was needed, he said.

"A case of this importance and this rarity for legal and jurisprudential purposes ought to have been subject to have been covered by a stenographer and there would be a record other than the judge's notes,'' he said.

"It is a ground-breaking case and it has been around long enough for these kind of facilities to be in place, because the judge can't cover all the salient features.''