The Non-Impeachment of Judge Brian Curtin

by TJ Mon Nov 13, 2006 20:53

Why did the Garda not proceed to Judge Curtains home until the warrant was out of date?

Judge Curtain was a PD candidate who was a political appointee of Mary Harney.

Mary Harney was the leader of the party to which the minister for Justice belonged.

The minister for justice has authority over the Garda

Why did the Minister for Justice not demand a reasonable explanation from the Superintendent in Tralee as to why he let the warrant run out, so allowing a PD judge to get away scot free, with a pension and a €60,000 handshake for seven months work?

Operation Amethyst was executed country-wide in a very short period of hours and yet, in Tralee the Superintendent sat on the Curtain warrant for a month. What was he thinking? Did he have any contact with superiors? Did they have any contact with him?

Yes, there are a lot of questions about this case. Tribunal anyone?

by zugzwang Mon Nov 13, 2006 21:11

Sadly, you don't need conspiracy theories to explain what happened to the Curtin warrant.

The Gardai manage to execute less than half of the warrants delivered to them by the courts for execution before they expire - good news if you are less careful than you should be in parking the oul jalopy - even better news if you are a judge with dodgy sexual tastes.

by Mrs Lovejoy..... Tue Nov 14, 2006 00:44

Judge Curtin receives a 25,000 grand annuity. one wonders if it will be eaten up in
solicitors costs?

The reason for the name is that Revered Lovejoy from the Simpsons had a very
hysterical wife who kept yelling

" will someone think of the children.....

Me thoughts are this-

1. If you have power and money you can be seen (rather publicly) to eschew the
'criminal justice' system
2. You can be rewarded for so doing.

In this vein- I am not thinking of the numberless victims that may have given
Judge- now ex-judge Curtin his jollies, but of the kids in Rossport who are watching the criminalistion of their parents in the absolute and undeniable corruption of the present state.

It is ok- then to use legislation to facilitate the enrichment of your friends.
it is ok to beat up women. (Gardai)
it is ok to use the media to isolate people and have them suffer.
all these things are acceptable if you have both money and power.

But is unacceptable to fight back- you go to prison.

It is OK to be a judge accused of a serious crime and to walk away from a criminal
charge on a technicality. It is OK to be seen to use the media and the legal system
to resist the accusation of such a serious nature= 25,000 a year. retirement on health
grounds and freedom. but you are a criminal if you stand up and resist the corruption
which creates the inequality which favours the legal and monied profession.

Now- I ask- is this a message to send the next generation?

ordinary people are criminals and people accused and accquited of crime are rewarded.
this is the value system of a regime that is providing the leadership in this country.

by C Murray Tue Nov 14, 2006 15:11

The State are taking up the judge's legal expenses.......

Anyone notice the DPP use of the press to highlight the role of that office
in the media over the last two weeks?

A booklet has been published. (role of DPP in Irish legal system)
DPP calls for judges to justify sentences.

*an explanatory on why some cases are not prosecuted.
*explanatory on why DPP does not have to reveal his decison-making in certain cases.

This charm offensive has been brought to us as a result of the complete balls -up
which led to the constitutional crisis in May and june, wherein Laffoy had to release
Mister'A'. No-one saw that coming- the two week debacle led to the sex law bill.
Criminal Law (sexual Offences )Bill 2006.

The DPP had carriage of the cases which are now being re-tried as sexual offences.
We can now study the role of the DPP within the Irish Jurisprudence system which am sure
will help the victims families find some comfort or transparency about decisions made by
that office.

by Dave Tue Nov 14, 2006 15:42

"The validity of his claim of innocence has never been tested in an open
court because he was acquitted on a technicality."

Don't forget he does not need to 'claim' anything. It is up to the state to prove his guilt which they have so far failed to do.

I am reliably informed on this case, and it seems that this was not "actively persued" by AGS as the forensic details of the particular crime itself were relatively innocent. He seems to have used his CC to access some porn, and apparently inadvertantly accessed some child-stuff. The "inadvertent" nature is not a defence, however as the adult porn was itself illegal (I didn't know there was guns in with them there drugs your honour).

The upshot of this is that AGS decided to take the pedal off the prosecution, which was - as stated above - dismissed on a technicality.

So where does that leave us...?
- Justice probably not done.
- Justice definitely not seen to be done.
- Potential perception that judges may be above the law.

Where to now...?
- Vigilante solution?
- Build a better case and re-try? (probably likely to be found innocent anyway possibly justly).

A tough one.

by C Murray Tue Nov 14, 2006 16:26

Or to stand trial.

The fact that the radio and newspapers reported the fact that he would be allowed an
opt-out on the grounds of illness (September 17th 2006) does nothing to mitigate the
issue- in fact it complicates it further.

No point therefore in speculation.
He retains his pension.
lumpsum.
The State pays his legal costs.
He is not proven innocent in the context of Operation amethyst.
The impeachment was fought hard by his legal team.

The opt-out in the form of a tabled resignation necessarily ended the impeachment process.
This occured on the first active day of meetings of the committee.

Not good for anyone. no answers.

by Depths of Disgust Tue Nov 14, 2006 19:08

Point 1-Curtin was a solicitor for years and a candidate for PD's in Local elections

Point 2- Curtain was appointed a Circuit Court Judge in 2001 by a PD, McDoo ill, led government

Point 3- The FBI did not pick his name out of a phone book with a pin, they DID have a record of his payment to a child porn site.

Point4- There were months between the FBI communication to the Gardai and the Garda Raid on Curtin's house

Point5- The decision to raid a judges house is an intensely Political act and would only have been taken at the Highest Highest level. No garda below Commissioner rank would embark on such a course

Point5- Given the gravity of the act and the level at which it would have been initiated, the date on the warrant would have been observed and checked by numerous gardai at all ranks. Therefore the inescapable conclusion is that the fualty warrant was a premeditated action coming from the very top, to bring the computer "safely" into custody, while giving Curtin a let out.

Point6- Why would the Gardai have done all this? Because their Boss is PD Justice Minister McDo ill. Promotions were at stake here.

Conclusion: Pass this whole file to Justice Morris of the Morris Tribunal. So far he has shown great honesty and courage in facing down dirty tricks from McDo ill and Garda HQ. It would be very very interesting for him to look into that whole operation in Tralee..

by Ronnie Corbett Tue Nov 14, 2006 19:24

The case against Curtain was thrown out on a technicality.
The dogs in the streets assume he was downloading child porn on his computer and have convicted him in the court room of public opinion. I am one of those dogs in the street.
But in a civilised country we do not have lynch mobs.Legally Judge Curtin was not convicted of a crime and in the eyes of the law had not convicted any crime.The impeachment procedure was delayed by Curtin on that basis. The impeachment was valid as long as Curtin was still in office.Now that he has resigned he cannot be impeached.
If the government contest the position of Curtin in court, they have not a leg to stand on.Before the law he has committed no crime, therefore his record is unblemished and he is entitled to his pension.

Personally I believe that Curtin is in fact a paedophile, he did in fact download child porn. I believe that it is not right that he should escape impeachment and that it is not right that he still has his pension and most importantly that he is on the lose perhaps to sexually abouse children.

But none of this has been legally proven.

Curtin is free to go.

by Fiery S Wed Nov 15, 2006 01:56

It's no-one's fault that the warrent expired. The information that I recieved, was that the judge presiding over the case, held the warrent to a certain time, where previously it would have been from a different time. If the normal time had been followed, then the warrent was still valid.

by depths of disgust Wed Nov 15, 2006 16:17

Sorry fiery, I cannot except your excuse for the Gardai/Government in this matter. If a guard is walking up to my door to present me with a search warrant, I expect him to look carefully at the date. If it has yesterdays date on it, I would expect him to go away and get a new warrant. This is basic. Any fool would follow that.

That it did not happen in Curtin's case and that it led to the outcome it has led to and the fact that the Guard that presented the out of date warrant has since been promoted to Superintendant is ample evidence for me to state and believe that there is a Pima Facia case for Conspiracy from McDoo ill's office.

by C Murray Wed Nov 15, 2006 16:50

"Judge Brian Curtin has today written to the president, via the Taoiseach, conveying his
resignation on the grounds of ill health, from the circuit court under section 6 of the
courts (Establishment and Constitution)1961. His resignation is effective from today's date.

Under the constitution , the pension entitlements of a judge are regulated by law. A judge
who resigns owing to permanent infirmity may then apply for the payment of a reduced
pension. This is statutory entitlement to which he or she is objectively entitled and there is no
provision for this pension to be reduced once the infirmity is established"

http://www.justice.ie

by Fiery S Wed Nov 15, 2006 19:13

I wasn't clear. THe warrent was held by the judge to be 24*7 long (warrent lasted a week)
Gardai thought it was by day, ie. get it monday, it runs out at 00:00 next Tuesday (a reasonable assumption). They were out by about three hours.

by Chakar Wed Nov 15, 2006 19:18

Fiery S is correct, it was a new precedent that the warrant would be valid from the hour of issung as opposed to the day of issuing.It was disappointing for all involved in the case.

by Brian Borou Wed Nov 15, 2006 19:23

Vey unusual indeed! strange legal proceeding form start to finish.

by Manhunter Mon Nov 27, 2006 09:42

today is monday - if I ask you to meet me in 7 days outside the hardware shop on the main street in swords, co. dublin; when will you turn up?

thats right, monday next. well in the strange and fascinating world that is the Irish legal system it would be sunday! That is what happened with the judges warrant, the "not in the real world" brigade got a hold of it and if you are looking for anything rotten to the core in this society it is the whole legal system.

reform is badly badly needed in our judicial system and the more the gardaí and the politicians are blamed for stuff like this the more we do not shine the light where it really needs to be shone.

the more we allow them to hide behind that fact that they are one of the pillars of our democracy, the more we hide from the fact that it is a deeply flawed pillar. at the dawn of our democracy it was deemed best to leave them alone in their ivory towers down the quays as they could have spannered the whole works at the time. that was probably a wise decision at the time but now as a more mature society and democracy we must look at the tail that is really wagging the dog.

it is now true that where the judiciary are supposed to act as a balance to the legislature they are in fact acting contrary to the proper running of democracy.

the “traditions”, the insular attitude, the elitism, the plain bullying that goes on down the law library has got to be challenged for one and for all.

we had a wonderful chance with the sheedy affair (skillfully brushed by the resignation of a civil servant and a senior judge) and here is another chance now with curtain but we are all concentrating on the Political and the law enforcement.

Start looking at the woods boys, the trees will always be there…….