It's official: Magistrate Herrera perjured herself yesterday
I have just received a telephone call from Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar.
He told me that he was horrified to hear that Magistrate Herrera falsely named him under oath in court as the policeman who sent drinks to her table at lunch at Da Pippo in Valletta.
He thanked me for pointing out on this blog last night that this was a lie.
He swore that he has never been inside Da Pippo, that he has almost no social life to speak of because he divides his time between home and work, and that he has never sent drinks to a magistrate’s table, nor would he ever do such a thing.
Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar told me that he will write to the Chief Justice to say this, and that he will testify to it under oath in court, because it is crucial that he clears his name.
I asked his permission to report what he told me on this blog immediately. He gave me that permission, and said that it is actually very important that as many people as possible know this, because the magistrate’s claim under oath that he sent her drinks at a restaurant is highly damaging to him and completely untrue.
A police officer should never send drinks to a magistrate, he pointed out, and he is certainly not the sort of police officer to do so – and that is quite apart from the fact that he was head of the Vice Squad at the time.
The intimation, of course, is that while he is not the sort of police officer to send drinks to a magistrate’s table, she is the sort of magistrate who accepts drinks from a police officer.
The public now expects the police to take action against Magistrate Herrera for perjury.
One of the fundamental arguments I have made in this saga, and I made it too in my statement to the police, is that anyone who lies repeatedly and habitually in their private life will think nothing of lying in their public life. Once the psychological obstacle of lying and cheating in your private life is overcome, then the mental barriers are lowered for lying and cheating in your public life.
Here we have the first cast-iron proof – and with the testimony of a highly respected Assistant Police Commissioner, no less – that this has in fact now happened.
106 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
prosit!
“The public now expects the police to take action against Magistrate Herrera for perjury.” …and she should now get on with it and resign before she drags the judiciary even further down into disrepute.
“L-Maġistrat Scerri Herrera ċaħdet ukoll li hi għaddiet xi informazzjoni lill-midja dwar il-każ ta’ Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando u dak ta’ Victor Scerri, tant li lestha ttella’ jixhdu lil dawn it-tnejn u jgħidu huma l-verżjoni tagħhom.” L-Orizzont, today.
This doesn’t make sense. How can they say under oath what the magistrate did or said to third parties?
[Daphne – That’s right. They can’t. But L-orizzont is a newspaper written by chickens for other chickens. And Magistrate Herrera is obviously not thinking clearly.]
My oh my. I never doubted the authenticity of your post early this morning, but this just nails it.
Consuelo would be better off resigning, dropping her court case and starting her life afresh…otherwise she’s going to dig a bigger hole which would leave her even more tarnished than she is now.
But pride plays an important part in all this, and I doubt she has the clarity of mind to take a decision that will hurt her now but benefit her in the long run.
I’m very sure that the authorities are piling the pressure on her at this point to avoid a bigger farce than the Arrigo/Vella one.
“The public now expects the police to take action against Magistrate Herrera for perjury.”
HEAR, HEAR!
Michael Cassar – who I know of through television and the newspapers – has always come across to me as a person of great integrity.
Having once been in a long-term job which depended on gut-feeling when assessing peoples’ characters, I am glad to hear that my assumption about him was correct. The same can be said about my gut-feeling of the magistrate’s character.
To me, this is the magistrate’s most serious offence so far. On this alone – a MAGISTRATE lying under oath and slandering the integrity of a high-ranking police officer – she should go. Or be made to go.
Daphne for President!
Jiena naf lil Assistent Kummissarju Michael Cassar bhala bniedem serju hafna. Nispera li l-kummissarju tal-pulizija jaghmel xoghlu tajjeb u jiehu passi kontra l-Magistrat Scerri Herrera ghax din malafamatu.
Dik irgulia – something very lacking in Malta.
You know something, Daphne, that if I were a born singer I would dedicate a song to you: Tu si’ na cosa grande.
What a palaver! This is Consiegate, as there seems to be no end to it.
You are too clever and you will outwit them, Daphne. They do not stand a chance in hell against you, as you are always a step ahead of them, running circles round them. They are the laughing stock.
It is not only because she is clever. You can be clever and be on the wrong side of things. She is on the side of truth.
Nice one. Quite the coup, and a massive blow to the magistrate’s increasingly ropey case.
She’s done.
Well done, Daphne! Keep your blogs going!
Let’s see the police pick this one up and prove that they are not just some magistrate’s lapdog.
It’s now high time for Scerri Herrera to hand in her resignation. A magistrate who sleeps around is one thing. A magistrate who lies under oath is another thing altogether.
[Daphne – Both are part and parcel of the same thing. Integrity is holistic, not piecemeal.]
She claims to have integrity. Aren’t the police protecting it?
A magistrate who sleeps around is no different to one who lies under oath. Both prejudice your right to a fair hearing and bring the courts into disrepute.
Ask yourself this:
how easily would you rest knowing that your prosecutor is one of your magistrate’s conquests?
Maria santa! Kemm tiflah tkun bla skrupli din il-mara!
Thanks be to God. This is the Michael Cassar I used to know for many years when I worked in close liason with him at Police GHQ.
If you’re going to thank God for Assistant Commissioner Cassar, you’re going to have to blame God for Magistrate Scerri Herrera.
That’s not fair, is it? Any wrong doing is wholly her own.
Can you tell me the name of the man in the picture with Consuelo?
Hugh Anastasi..100%
Ta’ Ignazio Anastasi & Sons? Birthday 16th June ca. 1957?
L-Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar. huwa bhalek Daphne imma fil-korp tal-Pulizija u huwa wiehed mill-ftit li tista tafda. Pruvaw kemm il-darba jhammguh imma bhalek dejjem baqa f’wicchom. Dejjem bqajt immeravilat kif dan l-ufficjal li meta kien fis-sezzjoni tad-drogi kwazi naddaf lil Malta habta u sabta u minghajr raguni tax-xejn qalgha transfer.Forsi z-zmien ghad jaghtina risposta.
Prosit Daphne!
I can’t believe that the magistrate went so far as to involve such a respectable police officer. I wouldn’t mention such a person during a private conversation, let alone in court.
Well done Daphne. Keep up the good work !
Mickey Mouse might have phoned you and told you that he was Mr.So and SO and you are really closed in your own world keep on dreaming baby daphe as your time is running out and soon you are called by number not name see you Baby Daphe
Mickey Mouse seems to have taken to calling himself Tony. But what am I saying? Mickey Mouse is charming.
Stop trying to detract attention from the issue, “Tony”.
Kemm int patetiku “Tony”
If the Police does not take action ex officio, Daphne please lodge a report. I ask you on behalf of all decent citizens of this fair country. You could lodge it with Asst. Comm. Cassar in his private capacity.
—-
This is the point of no return for Dr Scerri Herrera. As other commentators have rightly said, it’s high time she went.
I repeat my comment of earlier today (about the article entitled ‘Michael Cassar’ at 0925):
‘And then she did something terrible in court. She said that the policeman who sent drinks to our table, the one whom I described as sleazy and embarrassing and by whose presence I felt compromised, was Michael Cassar, former head of the Vice Squad.’
Daphne, I assume you will testify in court that the above was a lie and a red herring.
Once you do so, the Commission for the Administration of Justice MUST take steps. Failure to do so is unthinkable and could open the door to a constitutional crisis on the basis that its chairman, the president, is manifestly neglecting his duties.
It’s high time that Lawrence Gonzi prodded him, I think.
And I add: Your Excellency Dr. George Abela, if you have any belief at all in the dignity of your office you MUST act NOW. How can you tolerate perjury by a magistrate?
I have noticed that the PL-inclined people are no longer appearing on this ultra-informative blog. Is it, perhaps, they are out of breath, or is it, perhaps that with their remarks they are bound to make more harm than good sticking up for a lost cause?
Tony hasn’t gone away. Like a pervert, he keeps hanging around. You can almost smell his bad breath and BO.
He’s probably in his karozza armata.
In polyester trousers, flannel shirt and pullover
The magistrate implicated Michael Cassar at her own peril. Their characters are poles apart and their names should not even be mentioned in the same sentence.
Michael Cassar, I salute you. You have single-handedly brought back some much aspired-for decorum to a police force which has been rapidly losing its integrity and credibility.
If the authorities do not act on this latest travesty of justice, then I regret to say that ALL is lost, EU or no EU, Republic or no Republic and Independence or no Independence.
We truly do not deserve to call ourselves a democratic nation.
Thank God for having the gutsiest lady around to expose all these shenenigans but otherwise……
WAKE UP MALTA
If the magistrate is lying to the court, then she is writing her own sentence. But do not expect the police to do the unexpected and investigate the magistrate. That is another matter the Commission for the Administration of Justice should note.
So why is she upset that she is referred to as a “liar”, or as she aptly qualified it a “fucking liar”?
“A police officer should never send drinks to a magistrate, he pointed out”
Not to mention that a married man should never send drinks to another woman, still less a married one.
Since the Arrigo case the judiciary has taken a nose dive and reading what Consuelo had to say under oath about Assistant Comm Cassar, I was shocked that a police officer for whom I have great respect behaved the way Consuelo said. Now it turns out that she lied under oath. We have reached the pits.
Expect Michael Cassar to become a target of Malta Today now.
If she doesn’t resign on this one … then I suggest you just give up on her and the rest of the Maltese judiciary. Since when does a judge commit perjury while everyone pretends it’s not happening? Shameful to say the least!
“Everyone pretends it’s not happening” because “everyone”, apparently, would either like Daphne to do their dirty work, or else they would like to see her go down instead of the magistrate.
Sadly, “everyone” does not realise that next time round, they could find themselves in Daphne’s shoes. Then again, probably not, because it looks like there are hardly any people with balls left nowadays.
Irriizenja kemm jsita jkun malajr.
Trid tghajjat ftit iehor, biex tisimghek minn fejn is-Salib ta’ l-Gholja.
Gurament falz – jekk tinqabad tista tehel habs. Issa ahjar!
There is only one honourable option left for the magistrate: to quit while she is (relatively) ahead, to commit the equivalent of harakiri and hand in her resignation. She has tarnished the judiciary more than enough. If she doesn’t do it voluntarily (as an honourable person should) then pressure should be piled on her to do it anyway.
”She has tarnished the judiciary more than enough”
And now she’s doing the same thing to a few decent individuals in the police force……did I hear someone say jaqq?
This is sickening. We are becoming the laughing stock of all who hear about this. This brings the whole judiciary into disrepute. Surely the chief justice and parliament should do something about it. But I bet you she will correct what she said and come up with an inane excuse.
Why did Consuelo involve Michael Cassar? He is a perfect example of how a professional policeman should be. Mela hsibt li kullhadd bhalek jew bhal shabek jew?
Forsi qisithu b’xibritha.
I bet you anything that she’ll hang on to her post. She is too brazen to resign, and parliament will not impeach her. We’ve got her for keeps, but still, Daphne, keep it up.
There is something that can be done: the Chief Justice has the remit to relieve her of her duties.
I wonder if the Chief Justice follows this blog. If not, then someone should bring it to his attention – the sooner, the better.
Jien ħaġa waħda biss nispera f’Alla. Wara li ili nsegwi din l-istorja mill-bidunett, u wara li evalwajt oġġettivament l-inċidenti u l-komportament tal-magistrata fil-kwistjoni kif irrapurtati f’dawn il-blogs, jekk dawn jiġu ppruvati fil-qorti, l-ġustizzja titwettaq kif mistenni, jekk mhux għalxejn, sabiex l-integrita` tal-qrati maltin jintrefghu mill-ħmieġ li waqghu fih u jitnaddfu darba għal dejjem minn dawk l-elementi kollha li għamlulhom diżunur.
Jekk dan ma’ jsirx għaliex ikun hemm minn jixtieq li t-trab jintefa’ taħt it-tapit, u dan jista’ jiġri jekk il-Parlament ma jiksibx iż-żewġ terzi tal-voti biex jitneħħa minn ma’ jistħoqqlux li jżomm il-kariga ta’ ġudikant, allura vera Miskina Malta
Surely she knew that this case was going to open a can of worms. She must be kicking herself and probably asking Robert to have a go himself.
The devil is in the detail. We all know what happens to il-giddieb or il-giddieba. She should just resign and stop dragging her noble profession through the mud.
Pack up and leave, Consuelo.
@jose’ manuel herrera (based in Buenos Aires)
She might read your comment although she only recently heard about this blog and only met the host around twice, unless of course she is organising a party or planning a hike up is-Salib tal-Gholja
Next stop for Consuelo and Robert: Borg in-Nadur b’xi xewka f’halqhom.
Dear Jose manuel herrera, based in Buenos Aires, I would be careful with that advice. She might catch a plane to Argentina.
let the world know
Consuelo should resign and the police authorities should investigate her for perjury.
Consuelo imissa tkun mara matura u tinduna li l-hajja li hi thobb tghix ma’ tirrikkjedix posizzjoni bhal ma ghandha hi. Hemm ohrajn li huma bhala, tafux, pero’ li qed taghmel hi huwa tal-ghageb, ta’ barra minn hawn, u tal-misthijja ghall-Maltin kollha ta’ rieda tajba.
U jidher izjed ikrah peress li hi magistrata. Kieku kienet Joany tal-growser tal-kantuniera, hadd ma’ kien jaghti kas (hlief il-girien, naturalment).
@ s fenech
“But I bet you she will correct what she said and come up with an inane excuse”
If she does, it will be one of the biggest gags of this whole farce. She had plenty of time to think of her replies, bil-yellow highlighter b’kollox. Ma hemm l-ebda skuza fuq din.
[Daphne – Now she’s claiming that she mistook his identity. I don’t know what’s worse: a magistrate who lies under oath or a magistrate who makes a mistake of that magnitude under oath, thinking that she received drinks and sat at lunch with the head of the Vice Squad when she didn’t.]
How many ‘mistakes’ has she made in the court cases she has handled in the past? She’s either a liar or has lost the plot. Or both. Whichever way you look at it, she is not a person who should be sitting in judgement over others. Ahjar tirrizenja u tmur tiftah mowbajl DJ show ma Musumeci.
Yeah right, Cons, pull the other one; it’s got bells on.
No, we do NOT believe you, and I doubt it very much if anyone does, including your admirers – what’s left of them.
There are no admirers. There are only people who use her, a few of whom are used in return.
And then there are those who are “friendly” with her, and yet take great offence should someone mention their name in tandem with hers. Now why would that be?
So will the magistrate perjure herself once again by saying she mistook his identity? Well, most of Malta and whoever is following this story abroad, Singapore and further, knows the answer.
Maybe the police all look the same to her when they are in uniform.
@Chelly
…or without one.
How is it possible to mistake his identity? Even back then he had a very recognisable face…
I never thought that at charity parties for the Dar tal-Providenza and Eden Foundation people in high places get drunk!
or mix with drunks in low places.
The chief Justice should summon her for an explanation.
Hemm differenza kbira bejn l-eks spettur Patrick Spiteri u l-assistent kummissarju Michael Cassar, kemm fil-karatru u kemm fil-figura. Jiena cert li Michael Cassar mhux se joqghod jiftahar bil-holidays fil-Caribbean.
A magistrate is NOT allowed to mistake identities when she is under oath or in office.
Magistrates are not allowed to do many things which this particular magistrate has done, such as providing comments directly to the media.
A serious legal system would re-examine cases decided by Consuelo for possible miscarriages of justice.
Daphne rocks!
Consuelo, ahna mhux mill-pulizija nibzghu imma minn min ma jghidx il-verita fil-Qorti, jew meta jintervistawh, jew xi bravu fuq l-ahbarijiet.
Daphne. Thallihomx jitilfulek il-koncentrazzjoni. Dan ‘Jo’ xi buffu iehor jew.
This is very serious. Consuelo’s only way out is in the extreme event that another police officer by the name of Michael Cassar turns up and you can say that you meant this particular one.
Isma’ minni, Consuelo – nigi missierek – get out of it now, please, and do not cause more harm to your family.
I think you need help.
No one who is a public person in Malta cannot know the identity of Michael Cassar, as obviously the magistrate knows who he is, as we all do if we have lived in Malta for a while. While the magistrate has gone to court over her claims of defamation, it is a well known phenomenon that when public persons end up in court over minor or serious matters, but then perjure themselves, the consequences are much more serious.
The matters pertaining to the magistrate’s behaviour are serious enough; but Richard Nixon was impeached over perjury, for attempting to cover up Watergate. The more the magistrate attempts to cover up, the more likely she will hang herself under perjury.
Careful. She might file yet another police report, for making a possible death threat.
Hawn hekk kienet taf minhu jew hasbitu xi hadd iehor ukoll.
Xi pcejjec dawn ukoll.
http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:-0x4s8aF-F4J:www.l-orizzont.com/news2.asp?artid=22619+michael+cassar+consuelo+scerri+herrera&cd=24&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=safari
Who would have thought that this puny blog by a “gossip columnist” could rock the country’s legal institutions to their very core?
I shudder to think what would have happened if there was a ‘journalist” behind it. Tsunami.
A veritable tragicomedy.
There isn’t a single journalist in Malta that would have the guts to rock this as Daphne is doing. Not a single one. Most of them are quite content to report like parrots or make asses of themselves.
[Daphne – Let’s be fair. They have bosses, publishers and employers, and I don’t. That applies to everyone except Saviour Balzan, who has no excuse.]
Thank God fro Michael Cassar’s integrity. As for Magistrate Herrera’s actions, she ought to resign. If she doesn’t have the guts to do so, she should be sacked.
Magistrates are not sacked. They are impeached – or they could be, if their brother weren’t shadow minister of justice in the opposition party.
Two thirds of parliament have to vote for impeachment to be effected, and that’s only after there is a motion for impeachment.
‘A serious legal system would re-examine cases decided by Consuelo for possible miscarriages of justice’
OR MISIDENTITY
Or “Illahwa, dak kien hu Robert? Lanqas gharaftu!”
Consuelo has trouble remembering things and recognising people.
“Daphne? Dik min hi? Saviour? Dak min hu? Kien Michael Cassar… stenna, forsi kien … insejt issa”.
She couldn’t have remembered it was Michael Cassar. As he’s already said categorically, it couldn’t or wouldn’t have been him because a man in his position shouldn’t do that sort of thing and he doesn’t.
But, then, she wouldn’t know that, given that she publicly welcomes undesirable attention.
u l-purtira tad-damask tat-tempju bdiet ticcarrat….
TWICE IN ONE SITTING ?!
times.com yesterday
” The magistrate also referred to allegations that she had made a property deal together with a lawyer.
She denied it and said she had declared all her assets to the Commission for the Administration of Justice and was found to have done no wrong.”
times.com today
” Justice Commission says it has taken no decisions on Magistrate Herrera “
Fuq tlieta toqghod il-borma. What next?
I thanked God that the slur cast on A.C. Michael Cassar is prioved to be untrue. I do not praise God for what Michael Cassar is and still less do I blame him for what Magistrate Herrera is. Both of them are what they are because they chose to be that way themselves.
Wake up Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici! What in God’s name are you waiting for?