Arrigo trial: court hears submissions on punishment - sentence on Thursday

The judgement in the trial of former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo will be handed down on Thursday, Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo decided this afternoon.

The former Chief Justice was this morning found guilty of bribery, trading in influence and revealing official secrets when he reduced the prison term of a drug trafficker on appeal.

The court this afternoon heard submissions from the defence about Dr Arrigo's character. Those who gave evidence included, his son Joseph, former Chief Justice Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici and two priests who were friends of Dr Arrigo - Fr Gorg Dalli and Fr Rene Camilleri.

An envelope containing Lm5,000 in cash was presented in court by Assistant Commissioner Pierre Calleja, who explained that the money had been taken to police headquarters by Fr Daniel Cordina.

Last week the trial was told that Dr Arrigo had presented money given to him in relation tot he case to the parish priest of Zebbug, who handed it to the police.

DEFENCE SUBMISSIONS

Taking the witness stand, Fr Gorg Dalli said he had known Dr Arrigo for nine years and just before this case they had been talking about going to Lourdes, which Dr Arrigo had visited several times.

Fr Dalli said Dr Arrigo had spoken to him and told him that he had made administrative mistakes. He admitted to him that he felt sorry for what he had done. He wanted his whole family to go up to Lourdes but this had not happened. Fr Vella also spoke on how Dr Arrigo had taken a theology course.

Fr Rene Camilleri said he got to know Dr Arrigo because of some of the cases he had in the family court when he was still a judge. He also met him through the Faculty of Theology. He never told him his direct motivation for starting the course.

Recently, they spoke at length about how he was dealing with the case.

As a character, he never doubted his values and principles. It was obvious that Dr Arrigo was a person who was getting a lot of comfort out of prayer.

Former Chief Justice, Giuseppe Mifsud Bonnici said he knew Dr Arrigo as a judge and also as an appeals judge. He found him to be loyal and always carried out his duties on time and without complaining.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that once as they were going to their cars, he saw Dr Arrigo's childhood friend Anthony Grech Sant looking. When he asked him why he was looking that way, he was told that a case had been decided against him.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said he told Dr Arrigo that whenever a friend appeared before him, he should always abide by the code of conduct.

Once, Dr Arrigo asked him to exempt him from hearing a case because a friend was involved, and he granted the exception.

Joseph Arrigo, Dr Arrigo's son said the past seven years, since the case broke out, had been very difficult for his father and for the family. His father's health had deteriorated as a result.

Dr Arrigo (jr) said his father was a philanthropist who regularly sought to help the sick, at Lourdes and elsewhere.

"I can vouch for one thing: My father always brought us up in the way a person should be brought up. My father is and will always be my father."

In other submissions, Defence counsel Joe Giglio spoke on the applicable penalties according to law. He said that while one understood that this case had harmed the judicial system, one also had to appreciate that this case had been given a lot of negative publicity from certain parts of the media. He was confident that the court would not give a judgement to satisfy the crowd. Dr Arrigo was not expected to be treated any differently but rather the same as other people that have been in the same situation.

Dr Giglio read out the resignation letter submitted by Dr Arrigo when he stepped down from the Bench and pointed out how he had expressed regret and apologised to society.

The fact that he wanted to give the money to charity was a reflection of his remorse. His actions were completely different from those of Judge Patrick Vella (who was jailed for two years over the same case), who had settled a bill at Azzopardi Jewellers and requested more money from the people who had bribed him.

Dr Giglio also pointed out that at prison there were people who have been put there by Dr Arrigo.

PROSECUTION SUBMISSIONS

Dr Anthony Barbara, for the prosecution, said two aspects had to be considered, the gravity of the case and the behaviour of the accused. Society had to have confidence in the judicial system, as there would otherwise be a jungle.

How could two judges become controlled by the criminals? Were it not for the democratic system, and had not the telephone calls been intercepted, this case would never have been revealed.

One had to imagine a situation where the work of the police became useless because judges had been bribed.

Although the two judges acted differently, they both committed the same crime.The Chief Justice had tried to mislead the police.

The court, therefore, had to signal that such things could not be tolerated, by anyone. A deterrent was needed. One could not have injustice committed in the name of justice. This, the prosecution said, merited a punishment that was more severe than that imposed on Judge Vella.

See also

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091124/local/noel-arrigo