[article] Judge Cutain Child Porn Case Thown Out.

mike65

This from unison.ie

The jury in the trial of a Kerry Judge accused of knowingly possessing child porn has been directed to find a verdict of 'not guilty'. Judge Carroll Moran found that the warrant used to search Brian Curtin's house was out of date when acted upon. Judge Carroll Moran was highly critical of the prosecution for bring this trail so far and putting him in this situation on which he had to make a ruling on a colleague.

The warrant was signed on the 20th of May, but the search did not take place until the 27th. In a written judgement read to the court Judge Moran said the law was crystal clear on this issue and the warrant is out of date. He excused the jury, thanked them for patients and excused them from service for five years.

Ho-hum. What do we think? Cock-up or friends in high places to the rescue? I'll say the former as its about what one expects...

Mike.

Typedef

Wise man say.

Whenever there is a question, there is no question.

Obviously having a judge scentenced to jail, and subsequently probably killed and/or gang raped, would upset the prolateriate too much.

Besides in Ireland, it's one law for us and another law for them.

vorbis

in fairness typedef, the gardai have been know to make slip ups before. If the reason as described is valid, then I don't see how he is getting special treatment.

Villain

Originally posted by Typedef
Besides in Ireland, it's one law for us and another law for them.

Oh no there certainly is law, but theres no justice.:mad:

I hope they pursue this man in the future, I don't many people with his sick habits can just give them up, maybe the next time they get a warrant they will use it in time.

The Corinthian

A combination of a cock-up and better legal advice than you'd get with free legal aid. It would stand to reason that a judge would be in a far better position to be aware of such legal provisions than your average punter and more likely to have barristers / solicitors who would lend him a hand. As for friends in high places, I doubt if that came into play - I think that would be wishful thinking.

Additionally, it would not be the first time the DPP or Gardai screwed up a case on a technicality. As Napoleon Bonaparte put it, “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”

vorbis

I don't know corinthian, seems like something even an average lawyer would notice.
also irish1, does the notion of "innocent until proven guilty" mean anything to you? The judge has not been convicted of anything. What happened today does not stop them attempting a retrial. (granted they probably would have to find further evidence)

Villain

Originally posted by vorbis
also irish1, does the notion of "innocent until proven guilty" mean anything to you? The judge has not been convicted of anything. What happened today does not stop them attempting a retrial. (granted they probably would have to find further evidence)

Most definitely thats why I said

Oh no there certainly is law

.

I just meant there was no justice, not sure where you got the impression I stated he was guilty

vorbis

I don't many people with his sick habits can just give them up

seems like you've decided he is a paedophile

Villain

Originally posted by vorbis
seems like you've decided he is a paedophile

well that was my opinion, obviously he has not been proven guilty, but I'm afraid I can't ignore the fact the Guardai found those files in house.

The fact the warrant was out of date doesn't mean they didn't find anything it simply means they couldn't use the evidence in the court to prove him guilty

article6

The man got off jail, but he's not truly free. The fact that he was found with child pornography, whether admissible as evidence or not, will be with him forever in the eyes of his community.

I reckon 60% cock-up, 40% high-places.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by irish1
well that was my opinion, obviously he has not been proven guilty, but I'm afraid I can't ignore the fact the Guardai found those files in house.

The fact the warrant was out of date doesn't mean they didn't find anything it simply means they couldn't use the evidence in the court to prove him guilty

And the law that governs the rules of use of search warrants, was that just passed for fun and tickles? Or would you just pick and mix what laws you would adhere to or not?

Originally posted by article6
I reckon 60% cock-up, 40% high-places.

Feel free to explain your theory on that 40%.

mike65

You got to wonder why the plod did'nt burn rubber getting round to the Judges house once they secured the search warrent...

Mike.

dahamsta

I'd attribute this to TC's fave quote if it didn't happen nearly every single time a judge or Garda was brought up on charges like these. Attributing everything to stupidity is, well, stupid.

adam

mike65

Another pervy judge -

from timesonline.

Senior judge is arrested over child pornography allegations
By Nicola Woolcock


A SENIOR judge who has sentenced dozens of paedophiles has been arrested in connection with child pornography allegations.

David Selwood, 69, the resident judge at Portsmouth Crown Court, was arrested at his home in Winchester on Wednesday night. Judge Selwood, a former major- general and director of army legal services, has presided over many child sex offence cases in his 12-year career as a judge.

After being interviewed by the police over allegations of possessing indecent images of children, he was released on bail pending further inquiries. He was listed to preside over an indecent assault trial yesterday at Portsmouth Crown Court but remained at home and the case was covered by another judge. A spokesman for the court said: “Judge Selwood has not been at work due to illness. We are not expecting him in next week either.”

One of the cases over which he presided was that of Paul Hobbs, of Fareham, a paedophile who stored hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer. On passing a seven-year jail sentence in July 2002, Judge Selwood described the images as disgusting and corrupting. He said: “Those who search for and download images of this kind create a market which encourages the abuse of young girls. Such abuse involves a huge number of children, as we have seen in court.”

A spokesman for Hampshire police said: “Police can confirm that a man was arrested at an address in Winchester on April 21 in connection with a countrywide paedophile operation. The man was interviewed at a police station in Hampshire and released on bail pending further inquiries.”

A National Crime Squad official said that the arrest had nothing to do with Operation Ore, under which more than 1,200 people have been convicted.

Mike.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by dahamsta
I'd attribute this to TC's fave quote if it didn't happen nearly every single time a judge or Garda was brought up on charges like these. Attributing everything to stupidity is, well, stupid.

When what didn't happen? Please present a list of every single time. And while you're at it explain how this differs from defendants who are not judges or Gardai.

And while you're at it take off the tin foil hat.

Chinafoot

you scratch my back and i'll scratch urs. good old irish legal system.

cant wait to get the hell out of here.

dahamsta

Take TC with ya, do the country a favour.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by dahamsta
Take TC with ya, do the country a favour.

/me plays a violin for dahamsta







And he's getting worse with age...

mike65

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1086828,00.html

Porn case judge could get €2.5m golden handshake
Maeve Sheehan


THE judge cleared of child pornography charges after a garda blunder is likely to be offered a golden handshake of up to €2.5m to retire.

Brian Curtin, whose trial collapsed on Friday after a search warrant was declared invalid, is free to resume his judicial duties in September. There is widespread concern in legal and political circles that his position will be untenable even though he was cleared of all charges.

The government will consider a payoff when it meets to discuss the fallout on Tuesday. It is unlikely to favour the unprecedented measure of impeaching a serving judge because of the constitutional difficulties. Curtin would have to be found guilty of “stated misbehaviour or incapacity” before he could be impeached.

The government’s options are limited. As Curtin was declared innocent, to remove him from the bench could result in a massive legal action against the state. Legal sources said the most practical option was to offer the judge his full salary — €130,000 a year until he reaches the retirement age of 70 — in return for standing down.

Michael McDowell, the justice minister, is consulting with the attorney general this weekend. He will brief the cabinet on Tuesday.

A retired judge said yesterday: “In the eyes of the law, he has done nothing wrong. As against that, there is the embarrassment. Could he command the respect of defendants? He is entitled to draw his salary but is it politically feasible to allow him to draw a salary without working. It’s difficult to see what the government could do if the judge isn’t prepared to say ‘well, I will resign but you will have to do a deal with me’.”

Curtin was one of 100 people targeted in Operation Amethyst, an investigation into child pornography downloaded from the internet. After days of legal argument, the trial judge ruled on Friday that gardai searched Curtin’s home the day after the warrant had expired. He ruled that the seized evidence, a home computer and other components, were inadmissible and ordered the jury to enter a “not guilty” verdict.

The botched prosecution has damaged the gardai and the director of public prosecutions. Both were singled out for scathing criticism by Judge Carroll Moran, who said police should have known that the warrant had expired and that the DPP should not have prosecuted.

Noel Conroy, the garda commissioner, has sought a report on the botched investigation. He is expected to brief the justice minister before the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The warrant was signed at 3.20pm on May 20 and executed at 2.20pm on May 27, by Tom Dixon, an inspector with the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations. Gardai will argue that they thought the seven-day search warrant was valid from the hour that it was signed, making it valid until 3.20pm on May 27. Judge Moran said it was valid from the start of the day it was issued, giving an expiry date of May 26.

What can one do? Pay him off which would be an outrage or impeach for something Cutain has'nt be found guilty of? Truely a f*ck up.

Mike.

Chinafoot

ok to be honest im still unclear......was there child pornography on his computer???
i know that because the warrant was invalid he has to be cleared but its still a disgrace. the loopholes in the law are incredible!

oh and did anyone else see the front of the paper today where he claims he'll be back on the bench by september????! and the sad part is...he probably will!

i hate to say it but after this and the brian murphy case......this country sickens me.

vorbis

its not a loophole peachypants, its a cockup by the guards and dpp. Surely they can retiral him If they honestly believe he's guilty then he's had to either have bought the stuff or acquired it from dubious people. If they don't retry the case, then why shouldn't the judge be allowed back on the bench?

article6

Originally posted by peachypants
ok to be honest im still unclear......was there child pornography on his computer???

Nobody has argued that there was not. However, it is not admissible evidence due to the expiry of a search warrant under an antiquated timing rule. The seven days of the warrant end at midnight of the seventh day after the signing, not 168 hours after the signing. This reduces the period in which the Gardaí can search.

Surely they can retiral him

As they have no admissible evidence, they cannot. They also cannot acquire another search warrant, as that would be double jeopardy. Frustrating, eh?

Ivan

Correct me if I'm wrong, but double jeopardy says you cannot be tried for the same crime twice, if you've already been proven guilty of it?

[Edit] Actually now that I think about it, of course you can be accused/have a search warrant for evidence for the same crime twice, that would just be absurd.
[/Edit]


AlthoughI dont think that applies here anyway but wasnt it an American law?

Thirdly, what kind of idiotic civilisation

A) puts a time warrant of 7 days on a search warrant.

starts the seven day limit at the start of the day it was issued instead of the time it was issued at.

C) follows the letter of the law over the spirit of the law?

Mighty_Mouse

Another twist in the story. Wow the gardai really have made a balls of this one:

www.unison.ie

"The Gardai have reportedly admitted that a virus capable of downloading pornographic images was found on Judge Brian Curtin's computer when it was seized in May 2002. The Trojan virus is capable of downloading pornographic images onto a person's computer without that person's knowledge or consent. Reports this morning said technicians only discovered the virus in Judge Curtin's computer recently, despite the fact that it was seized from his Tralee home almost two years ago. The reports also said the presence of the Trojan virus had led to the acquittal of four people charged with possessing child pornography in the UK. Judge Curtin had also been charged with the same offence, but he was acquitted last Friday because the search warrant Gardai used to raid his house had expired.
"

mike65

Not sure I'd read much into that disclosure. A virus/trojan would almost certainly desposit pix in a windows folder such as Temp or My Documents. I bet the Judge had them in a dedicated folder.

Mike.

Hmmm
Not sure why they are releasing that information.
Operation amatheus or whatever it was called was based on child porn paid for by credit card was it not!
He can't get away from the fact that he had to authorise that.
Judge curtains ( sorry for the levity but I couldn't resist ) computer probably had that trojan anyway if he was visiting dodgy sites or receiving e-mails from dodgy addresses.
All this "revelation" serves to do is make older people who know nothing about computers think that judge curtains is innocent:rolleyes:

ixoy

Indeed. I can imagine the Gardai only recently figured out how to turn the damned thing on (it's abundantly clear they don't like computer systems). Do the Gardai have a specialised tech squad?

As for Judge Curtains being let off - the Judge in question is obliged to uphold the letter of the law. What we need to address is why this warrant expires after seven days whereas one obtained under the Drug Trafficking Act lasts twenty eight days.

unklefiction

The Gardai do have a tech team and by all accounts are very good at their job

This whole mess is down to, who would have guessed it, money. This is yet another reason for people to go garda bashin in forums and in the press I think you'll find most gardai are not at all happy with this unfortunate circumsatance. I have it on good authority that the reason the warrant was out of date is due to the fact that overtime was not sanctioned for the to make the search so they had to wait untill a normal working shift, this I think can be blamed not on the gardai although the decision in the end was up to one superintendant, but again bertie's and his brats, promises broken for more gardai and fund cutting can be to blame for this mess.

btw: after the further evidence of viruses on judge curtains computer and the fact it was a portable piece of hardware, he would probably have got off anyway.

spongebob

Originally posted by Mighty_Mouse
Another twist in the story. Wow the gardai really have made a balls of this one:

www.unison.ie

"The Gardai have reportedly admitted that a virus capable of downloading pornographic images was found on Judge Brian Curtin's computer when it was seized in May 2002. The Trojan virus is capable of downloading pornographic images onto a person's computer without that person's knowledge or consent. "

It was a porn dialler. No mitigating evidence was put forward by the defence that it had called a porn site as I understand it. I believe that Eircom were due to take th ewitness stand to explain what Porn Diallers were .....the €3.61 a minute ones I hope.

M

arcadegame2004

But this article also says that the only credit-card transaction entered into by Judge Curtin was in 1999, at a time when it also had aadult porn. It even adds that NO childporn was even found on the hard-drive. If this is true it's another example of the media jumping to conclusions and pillorying someone who may actually be innocent. In Donegal there was a case of a teacher who was falsely accused of sexually abusing a girl in his school. He was cleared on the basis of evidence rather than a technicality. He was on the Late Late Show a year or 2 ago. Yet he still can't get a job, and people still shout abuse at him in the streets.

I seriously feel that new laws are needed to prevent the naming of suspects unless they are found guilty. Such is the emotion surrounding an allegation - however false - of child abuse - that even an innocent suspect's reputation can be destroyed, and that is wrong.