The man at the heart of the Judge Ray Pace bribery case is claiming a breach of his right to freedom and wants the court to grant him bail.
Darren Desira filed a constitutional application claiming that the denial of bail – despite a pending appeal that remained unheard for almost two years – was in breach of his rights.
The 18-year jail term handed down to Mr Desira in November 2012 led to charges against two men, Sandro Psaila and the late Raymond Caruana, for attempting to bribe former Judge Pace in order to use his influence to obtain a long prison sentence for Mr Desira.
Dr Pace was accused of bribery and trading in influence. He resigned in December 2012 and was found dead in May 2013.
In the application, signed by lawyers Giannella de Marco and Stephen Tonna Lowell, Mr Desira noted that he had been arrested in December 2001 over drug-related charges and was granted bail in June 2002.
The Attorney General decided he should stand trial in the Criminal Court. In November 2012, he admitted conspiring to deal in drugs and was jailed for 18 years.
The following month he filed an appeal. When it emerged that the judge may have been influenced by a second judge in handing down the punishment, he requested that the proceedings in the Criminal Court be declared null.
He wants the court to grant him bail
Nearly two years after the appeal was filed, it had not been appointed for a hearing, and Mr Desira made a bail request.
The law did not allow an accused in the Criminal Court to benefit from bail, unlike those tried in the Magistrates’ Court. So, as part of the request, he asked the court to allow him to present evidence to prove this case entailed extraordinary circumstances. The request was denied, as was his bail request.
Mr Desira also asked Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, one of three judges presiding over his bail hearing, to step down, given that he was deputy Attorney General when the Attorney General sent his case to the Criminal Court. This too was turned down. As a result he took his case to the constitutional level.
Yesterday former Assistant Commissioner Neil Harrison testified before Madam Justice Lorraine Schembri Orland. He was the main prosecuting officer in the drug case against Mr Desira.
He said that after the judgment, Mr Justice Pace asked him to go to his chambers to speak to him about something unrelated. This was not normal practice. Mr Harrison went there on December 5, 2012. The judge told Mr Harrison that had he not intervened, Mr Desira would have received a more lenient punishment.
Mr Harrison said at that point he did not think much about Dr Pace’s comment. He thought that perhaps it was normal practice for judges to consult before making a judgment.
Later, former Police Commissioner John Rizzo called him to his office and told him to bring along Mr Desira, who at the time was in prison. Once there, Mr Rizzo mentioned “a judge” to Mr Desira.
Mr Harrison said that, based on what he had heard Mr Rizzo say, he thought back to his conversation with Dr Pace and gave it a whole new interpretation.