![Court+Quintano]()
Former Judge Ray Pace had spoken to then Superintendent Neil Harrison telling him that had it not been for his intervention, drug trafficker Darren Desira would have been handed a much shorter jail term, the former Police Commissioner told the court. Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano later testified from the bench, saying that Judge Pace's intervention in his chambers during the Desira trial had made him very uncomfortable.
Taking the witness stand in the case of Ray Caruana and Sandro Psaila, former Police Commissioner John Rizzo gave background details that led to the arraignment of the accused and the issuing of charges against the late judge.
Ray Caruana and Sandro Psaila are facing charges of trading in influence and attempting to bribe former judge Ray Pace.
"Prime Minister Gonzi informed me that he had received suspicious recordings of telephone interceptions of conversations between the judge and the accused", Mr Rizzo said, continuing that he asked for the assistance of investigating officers Neil Harrison, Paul Vassallo and Norbert Ciappara.
Superintendent Harrison had informed Mr Rizzo that Judge Ray Pace had asked to speak to him. The former judge had mentioned the case of Darren Desira who had received an 18 year jail term. Mr Justice Pace said that had it not been for his intervention, Desira would have received a shorter prison term. Harrison had also passed the information to the Commissioner in writing.
Following these allegations Mr Rizzo spoke to the convicted, Darren Desira."I tried to win his trust but I did not want to give him too much information as the case was in its earliest stages". Desira told Mr Rizzo that he knew the accused and owed Caruana €40,000.
Both the accused were arrested and interrogated but they denied the allegations. The same claims were also denied by Judge Pace when he was spoken to by the police. Pace kept denying the claims even when faced with the telephone intercepts.
The accused, Sandro Psaila, was again interrogated by the Police. "He gave me the impression that he would admit to the charges after he would have spoken to his lawyer". When the Police spoke to Caruana, he confirmed his association with Psaila. Caruana also confirmed that the two had repaired the judge's (Mr Justice Pace) vehicle free of charge, they treated him to free meals and had installed a CCTV system at his house without charging him.
Mr Rizzo told the court how he spoke to Justice Lawrence Quintano who confirmed that former Judge Ray Pace had approached him while he was writing the judgement in the trial of Darren Desira. The judge told the police he felt uncomfortable with Judge Pace's presence, but he had not allowed himself to be influenced.
Cross examined by defence lawyer Franco Debono, Mr Rizzo explained how Caruana had approached Mr Justice Pace to influence in Desira's punishment in order to get to Desira for not honouring his debts.
The former commissioner concluded his evidence by stating that at no point had he given the accused the impression he was out for Judge Pace's blood. "I was very hurt by this case", he said.
Maria Cardona was entrusted by the court to transcribe the statements of the accused when they were interrogated by the police. She exhibited the transcripts pertaining to Sandro Psaila and explained that those of Caruana are still half done but will be exhibited in the next sitting.
Lawyer Franco Debono, on behalf of the defence, filed a court application asking for the release of the accused's assets. Dr Debono explained that the law allows for the indiscriminate freezing of assets over charges bearing a year's jail term, irrelevant of the crime. "Applying terms from the Money Laundering Act to other crimes is a breach of fundamental rights, as there is no financial gain in
cases such as this bribery case", he said.
The accused, said the defence lawyer, has owned a business for over 30 years and cannot have his life's earnings frozen. Earnings which did not come from crime are not supposed to be subject to seizure, the defence lawyer argued. He demanded that the court releases at least part of the accused's assets in order to safeguard the court from facing a constitutional claim over breach of human rights and subsequent claim for damages.
Mr Justice Quintano takes the stand
Sitting next to Magistrate Edwina Grima, Justice Lawrence Quintano confirmed that, while writing the judgement of Darren Desira, his messenger informed him that Judge Ray Pace was there and wanted to talk to him. " If I had known what it was about I would have objected to the visit", said Mr Justice Quintano.
Mr Justice Quintano recalled that in November last year he was assigned a trial by jury, however he could not remember the names of the accused involved. After making an effort, he recalled the face and explained that the prosecution and the defence had tried to reach an agreement. However this agreement was not reached. "I was under the impression that the prosecution was out for blood as they voiced their arguments vociferously. The defence made submissions of a more emotional kind", the judge explained. The defence submissions were that the accused could not enjoy time with his son and his involvement in the crime was not considerable. The jury went out and the judge retired to his chambers to write the sentence.
"I needed three hours to examine the evidence and ponder judgement. Mr Justice Pace came to my chambers. I told him it was not the right time to talk, but given he is my senior I could not throw him out. If it was anyone else I would have done so because I needed to concentrate", the Judge Quintano said. "However the judgement issued was mine and I am the only one responsible for it".
Questioned by the prosecuting inspector and cross examined by three lawyers, Mr Justice Quintano said Judge Pace asked him what he was working on and he replied he was busy with a court sentence over a drug case, and that no agreement had been reached between the prosecution and defence. The case involved 1800 grams of 88% pure cocaine. He told me that this was a very serious case and left".
While not recalling who broached the subject, the Mr Justice Quintano said that after Mr Justice Pace asked, he told him minute details about the case but made it obvious he was not pleased with Judge Pace's presence. The meeting lasted between 5 and 7 minutes and, while trying to hide his unease, Judge Quintano was not sure if his colleague got the message.
Lawyer Steve Tonna Lowell asked Mr Justice Quintano why was the word 'serious' used and how much Mr Justice Pace knew about the case. The witness replied that nobody could answer that question but Judge Pace himself. "However I consider every drug case, including simple possession, as serious offences". The judge then explained how he has been working drug cases since 2003 and had participated in bilateral agreements and meetings at the UN over drug law.
"It is not normal for judges to chat inside their chambers, simply because we do not have time for such things", Quintano explained. He continued that trials by jury are not the be all of court and that
appeal cases are a bigger and heavier burden for judges. "Some appeals last 10 days and one lasted over a month. Trials by jury are not the most important thing in court".
Mr Justice Quintano could not understand why the prosecution in Desira's case was so resolute against the accused. However when the police spoke to the judge during their investigations of the alleged bribery, they made it clear that they had no suspicion in Justice Quintano.
Adjournment
The evidence of Darren Desira was put off for next sitting as his lawyer Gianella de Marco filed a court application stating that she could not attend court as she is currently on honeymoon.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Veronique Dalli, Edward Gatt and Jason Grima appeared as defence counsels while Dr Stephen Tonna Lowell appeared as
parte civile for the Pace family
