Columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia hit out at Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera and her links to certain policemen, politicians and journalists in lengthy testimony in court today.
Mrs Caruana Galizia was testifying in the defamation case instituted against her by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera.
She stands charged with defaming the Magistrate in a series of blog posts claiming the magistrate had acted improperly in her private life. The posts, which began in January, set tongues wagging after making a number of serious allegations such as the magistrate having been in the company of drug users at parties.
In two previous sittings, Magistrate Scerri Herrera categorically denied ever having been in the presence of drug users at any of her parties, which she threw for philanthropic causes.
SITUATION WAS 'OUT OF HAND'
Mrs Caruana Galizia said she started writing about Magistrate Scerri Herrera because the situation had become 'completely out of hand'. She had not written anything before because she had had pending cases before the Magistrate.
She said the Magistrate started annoying her from the minute she started getting heavily involved with politicians (tithawwad bil-kbir).
During the Magistrate's 45th birthday parties, the Nationalist MPs who were present were the ones who always caused problems for the government - Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Jesmond Mugliett. Mrs Caruana Galizia said she also knew Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, he used to give her stories. Jeffrey and Carmen had told her that Robert Musumeci (Scerri Herrera's partner) had held a birthday party where the leader of the opposition Joseph Muscat was invited. How could a PN candidate invite the leader of the opposition to his birthday party?
The Magistrate, on facebook, was also friends with Ronnie Pellegrini, a person who Mrs Caruana Galizia described as 'zibel' from the 1980s.
Mrs Caruana Galizia said she had known Scerri Herrera for 30 years, and that was why she was not her friend. They were in the same group at sixth form, but they went their separate ways at University. When they were in their 30s, they met up for lunches regularly every two months. She had also been invited by her former husband to a surprise birthday party at a restaurant Chez Philip.
Mrs Caruana Galizia said she was placed on a chair next to Judge Farrugia Sacco, which, she said, was 'unsavoury'. At one time she went to the toilet. There she saw two of the guests using drugs, and she immediately left.
Mrs Caruana Galizia said Magistrate Scerri Herrera lacked decorum. She had had an extra-marital affair with Police Inspector Dominic Micallef, who served as a prosecutor before her. He is now a superintendent.
Mrs Caruana Galizia said Inspector Micallef had colluded with Magistrate Scerri-Herrera by trying to hide love letters.
She said the Magistrate had received the letters from the officer. She tried to hide them from her husband by giving them to a friend of hers. The reason why the Magistrate had taken so long to reply to the allegations she made in her blog was because she was trying to get her hands on the letter, to make sure they were not leaked.
Mrs Caruana Galizia said officers had been sent to her house to make sure she turned up for interrogation regarding this case. She believed this move by the police was the result of collusion by the Magistrate and the officer in question.
At one time, Caruana Galizia said, four policemen had turned up at her own home to make sure she appeared in a court libel case the following morning. She suspected that they were sent by Supt. Micallef in order to discourage her from getting her hands on these letters.
Caruana Galizia referred to an earlier sitting, where Scerri Herrera had denied that Supt Michael Cassar had sent wine to her table during lunch. It was actually 'corrupt' former Police Inspector Patrick Spiteri who had sent the wine, Caruana Galizia said. Mr Spiteri is currently undergoing criminal proceedings in court. Scerri Herrera had left the restaurant with him.
There was supposed to be separation of powers between the police and judiciary.
So how could Magistrate Scerri Herrera have accepted drinks from this person?" Caruana Galizia asked.
The Magistrate, she added, had 'no parameters'.
DRUGS
She knew that Scerri Herrera did not take drugs. Her comments about drug use were not against the Magistrate, but the people who went to the parties.
Scerri Herrera was putting herself in dangerous positions. Before a birthday party, Caruana Galizia said, she learnt that the wife of Meinrad Calleja, a convicted drug trafficker, was also going. Caruana Galizia said she decided not to go, but the magistrate was meant to go.
Instead of cutting back on her social life because she was a member of the judiciary, Magistrate Scerri Herrera had actually used her position to improve her social life. This went against the code of ethics of the judiciary. The code said that members of the judiciary should not court the media, yet Super One journalists such as Charlon Gouder and even the head of that station were friends of hers and were invited to her parties.
Caruana Galizia said she had not compared the Magistrate to former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo. God forbid that she took bribes. But that was how Noel Arrigo started.
Mrs Caruana Galizia exhibited various articles, one of them being an interview with First magazine in June 2008 which showed the Magistrate posing on a chair where she described how she cooked breakfast for her children and took tea to her husband - when everyone knew that she was having an extramarital affair.
Then Chief Justice Vincent DeGaetano had said that members of the judiciary should not reveal their private life. He had also said that their private life should not be the gossip of the town.
In another magazine, Scerri Herrera appeared on the front cover, with a member of the Spanish judiciary.
Another incident was when the Magistrate modelled jewellery and diamonds on a catwalk and then, years later, presided over a case involving theft from the same jewellery company.
facebook had revealed incriminating messages, Carauana Galizia said.
Scerri Herrera's daughter last year commented on facebook "I just got as Persian kitten from a client of my mother."
In another case, the daughter said "my mother's client, a mechanic, managed to fix my car for me".
JUDGEMENTS BY MAGISTRATE SCERRI HERRERA
Caruana Galizia said that Scerri Herrera had stood in judgement over the brother of her partner Robert Musumeci, and had acquitted him. She did not know whether this was done according to law or because she was sleeping with his brother. That was the problem. Justice had to be seen to be done.
Indeed, Caruana Galizia said, she had noticed, without making specific research, that most cases involving the legal office of the magistrate's brother Jose' ended with suspended jail terms and probationary periods, and she only found one where somebody was jailed. This, she said, was shocking.
Furthermore, Caruana Galizia said, how could President George Abela judge Scerri Herrera in his capacity of president of the Commission for the Administration of Justice when his son Robert and his wife Lydia were friends of Scerri Herrera and went to her birthday party?
Caruana Galizia said she had mentioned Gianella Caruana Curren in her blogs because a defence lawyer should not be sending virtual flowers to a Magistrate on facebook when this lawyer appeared before her.
In the last sitting, Scerri Herrera said she worked hard for charity, when it was evident that the magistrate was using charity for publicity.
She then referred to another photo where TV personalities Moira Delia and Clare Agius were in a facebook photo gallery with the title - backstage shenanigans - Consuelo's birthday. True, the magistrate had no control of what appeared on facebook, but that was the point why she should be careful about her company.
There was a case, Carauana Galizia said, where a former PN candidate, Joe Borda, had a libel case before Scerri Herrera against Charlon Gouder and Jason Micallef. How would Borda feel seeing pictures of Gouder and Micallef at the Magistrate's birthday party?
In another case, the prime minister filed a case against the Labour Party over an election billboard. The case was presided by Scerri Herrera. How, then, could the magistrate invite Joseph Muscat to her house?
CROSS EXAMINATION
Under cross examination by lawyer Steve Tonna Lowell, Caruana Galizia said, about the judgements she had referred to, that she based herself on press reports and had not carried out further verification. She had not compared the sentences to those given by other Magistrates because in this case, the point was that Jose' Herrera was involved in these cases as defence counsel.
About her reference to Patrick Spiteri being 'corrupt' Caruana Galizia said she did not verify that his court case had been decided yet. The last time to Supt Michael Cassar, he told her it was still continuing.
When the lawyer told her that people were innocent until proven guilty, Caruana Galizia said that when the police arraigned somebody, especially a policeman, they had enough evidence.
On the case where Robert Musumeci's brother was acquitted, she did not know if an appeal had been filed by the Attorney General. Dr Tonna Lowell said no appeal had in fact been filed.
Caruana Galizia responded by asking if the AG knew that the magistrate had been sleeping with the brother of the accused.
Referring to her use of the words 'talcum powder' in the blogs, Caruana Galizia said this was an expression and not an euphemism for cocaine. That the magistrate used deodorant was just a throw-away line.
Dr Tonna Lowell said the timing of Caruana Galizia's blogs showed that she wanted to get revenge after the Magistrate allegedly aid something about her at a dinner party.
Caruana Galizia said two people at that dinner party were shocked by the Magistrate's behaviour and called her about it. These people were Lou Bondi' and Rachel Attard. They had gone to the toilet and called her, speaking of their shock at the look on the Magistrate's face when she spoke about her (Caruana Galizia).
The case was put off for more evidence.