Magistrate 'mistakes identity' of police Vice Squad head
This one isn't a sleazy policeman - it's safe to accept drinks from him
timesofmalta.com, today
Caruana Galizia case: Asst Commissioner denies Magistrate’s claim
Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar has denied part of the testimony Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera gave on Monday when she said he had bought her drinks at a popular restaurant.
“It wasn’t me. I don’t even know where this restaurant is. I never bought a drink for a magistrate or any other citizen. My life is spent at work, at home and at the beach in Marsascala,” he said when contacted.
Columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who is accused of defaming the magistrate in a series of blogs, posted an entry yesterday saying that, in the circumstances, the public expected the police to take action against the magistrate for giving false testimony.
For Mr Cassar, however, this was probably a question of “mistaken identity”.
When asked whether the magistrate could have mistaken him for somebody else given that he was such a prominent figure, the officer said that, since the incident happened seven years ago, he gave the magistrate the benefit of the doubt. But, he insisted, he was never involved in such situations.
In her first in a series of blog entries accusing the magistrate of inappropriate behaviour, Ms Caruana Galizia described an episode in which she and the magistrate were at a ladies’ lunch when some “sleazy policemen” sent drinks to their table.
“The rest of us wanted to send the drinks back but the magistrate accepted them… ”
In her testimony on Monday in the defamation case instituted by the police acting on a complaint by the magistrate, Dr Scerri Herrera said the men at the table were far from sleazy and included Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar and an official of the American Embassy.
Ms Caruana Galizia was yesterday questioned by police for allegedly swearing at the magistrate and calling her a liar on her way out of court.
Ms Caruana Galizia denied the claim saying that she said the word liar in private and was not, at the time, even looking at the magistrate on Monday.
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IBQA IGGIELED WHOEVER YOU ARE … MA NAQBILX LI L AFFARIJIET GHANDOM JISSOLVEW B MOD TA TELEVIZJONI PERO HAWN MALTA MID DEHRA LANQAS JEKK TIKXEF IL VERITA MA JIRNEXXIELEK IGGIBA ZEWG.
KEEP FIGHTING FOR FREE SPEECH !!!
AND PLEASE BE A FLOATER NOT A PN ACTIVIST… YOU WILL BE MUCH MORE CREDITED IF YOU ARE INDEPENDENT
[Daphne – I am not, nor was I ever, a PN activist. And people like me don’t float. We have convictions.]
im a nobody , and i think this topic is way over my head but i cant help inventing stuff in my mind trying to find a reason why all this has happened. of course i wouldnt dare saying them without any proof . i just hope that truth prevails .
li naf zgur huwa li irnexxielek tohloq a maltese michael moore , loved by just a fraction of the world , but one who can create a seismic earthquake whenever he writes down his 2 cents .
In fact, Daphne, I think you should object the way the PL and Super One refer to you…”l-artikolista Nazzjonalista!”.
[Daphne – I don’t consider that libellous. I’m proud of my political convictions. I would feel libelled if they referred to me as an artikolista Laburista.]
Everyone knows Daphne’ s convictions but she also commented on PN candidates in the past. THIS IS WHY SHE IS KNOWN AS A GREAT COLUMNIST
why do you hate labour so much? you are not a PN activist ?
… and I wonder
Info from facebook about himself : Alex Saliba, born on 31st January 1988, is currently studying law at the University of Malta (4th Year), he is also Secretary General of the Labour Youth Forum and also sits in the Labour Party National Executive. (His relationship status is ‘single” and ‘interested in women’).
Extract from his wall
Alex Saliba: Il-Gossip Girl ‘Maltija’ Daphne Caruana Galizia tghajjar lil Magistrat Consuelo Scerri Herrera Gewwa l-Qorti… Tal-Misthija jekk taf tisthi
Yesterday at 9:24am
Yet another up and coming Labourite lawyer. Should the Secretary General of the Labour Youth Forum who also sits in the Labour Party National Executive not have verified his ‘facts’.
What does the Secretary General of the Labour Youth Forum who also sits in the Labour Party National Executive have to say about the false statement which Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera under oath about the Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar? Now even more so after the Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar has publically denied the accusation.
And need I add that some of the ‘friends’ of the Secretary General of the Labour Youth Forum who also sits in the Labour Party National Executive are:
Ronnie Pellegrini
Jose Herrera
Joseph Muscat (yes The Joseph Muscat)
Marisa Micallef
Pia Micallef
Marlene Mizzi
Charlon Gouder
Miriam Dalli
And last but not least ROBERT MUSUMECI (il-lover tal-Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera)
I posted a comment on the Times website under this story stating that I find it hard to believe that this could have been a case of mistaken identity.
The identity of the person who sent the drinks to your table is a crucial part of the testimony. It makes a huge difference whether it was a much-respected police official or one that was later to be dismissed from the Police corps. The magistrate was certainly aware of the importance of this point – so how could she have made such a “mistake”?
I posted this about an hour ago together with a post under another unrelated news story (the Jean-Pierre Farrugia one). Till now my other post has been displayed, but not this one. I wonder why?
The identity of the police officer makes a difference in that it aggravates what is already a bad thing.
Did you see what Assistant Commissioner Cassar said? He would never do such a thing. The flipside is that the magistrate should never accept – but she did, and she didn’t deny doing so.
Is it just me, or does this all sound so childish?
Rather than childish it looks more like Scerri-Herrera is panicking.
Why expect her to behave properly? After all, this whole thing is about the accusation that she rarely does so.
Which bit do you find childish? That Consuelo Pilar Scerri Herrera said she accepted drinks from someone whom she thought was called Michael Cassar?
Or that a magistrate publicly endorsed a compromising act committed by a police officer in her regard and, when challenged, sought cover in the respectable name of an assistant commissioner of the police force.
The whole affair. The ‘liar, liar pants on fire!’ bit. The ‘Sir, she’s calling me names’ bit. All so undignified! It would be all undignified for any adult, but for a magistrate. Even if she thought she was libeled, she could have handled it so much more elegantly.
Daphne is not innocent in all this either. The “I did say liar, but I wasn’t looking at her” remark made me cringe slightly. To be fair, she shouldn’t have to explain her words…but still.
“When contacted by this newspaper over the phone yesterday morning, the highly respected Assistant Commissioner said that he had put the phone down on the said magistrate as she had called him personally and told him that she mistook him for someone else. ”
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=102803
Bingo!
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2010/02/12/bingo-joseph-musumeci-is-roberts-brother/
Steve, I’m guessing you don’t know Daphne half as well as I do. Daphne lil Consuelo iddahhala fil-but u terggha tohroga, u Consuelo lanqas biss tinduna x’ikun gara.
I’ll bet you anything she set her up, knowing exactly how she would react on hearing the word ‘liar’. And Consuelo walked right into it, just as she did when she assumed that Daphne didn’t know who the policeman was because she happened not to tell us his name, leaving the way wide open for Consuelo to lie under oath.
What will she be telling us next? That she mistook him for Robert’s brother’s picnic cooler?
Read this earlier on The Times, and have been pondering. It is psychologically impossible to mistake an identity in a case like this. One either remembers very clearly, or vaguely. In the latter case, one is aware that the recollection is vague, but it is left at that in one’s mind. Putting a specific face to a person in a situation like this, and saying so in court, is just lying about the recollection.
You can, for example, mistake an identity in a physical identity parade if the suspect looks a lot like the perpetrator, but to do so in one’s own mind is really pushing the limits of immagination.
The former may happen if one is very familiar with the face and a psychological ‘bond’ exists. This does not seem to be the case at all. The latter is of course self-explanatory.
It’s as simple as that. Consuelo Scerri Herrera is still a liar or a very confused person with a dangerous imagination.
Michael Cassar vera hareg ta’ ragel saying it may have been mistaken identity, but that does not change the fact that, in my eyes, she remains a liar.
And the matter is even more serious, because a magistrate should be all the more aware that her testimony should be accurate.
I am also under the impression that phoning someone who might be a potential witness in one’s case is tantamount to exerting undue pressure on a witness. If that is the case, then surely Consuelo knows that she was wrong to contact Michael Cassar; I also hope that if my assumption is correct, then the police and the Minister for Justice will take the necessary action legally possible within their powers.
Biex ma tarafx lil Michael Cassar ci vuole! Kieku jien pacenzja, ghax lanqas naf fejn hi l-Qorti. Imma biex magistrat, li tahdem ma dawn in-nies il-hin kollu, titfixxkel ma hi plawsibli xejn. Din kbira din!
Inti jaqaw il ‘Moi’ li tikteb fl’Independent ta nhar ta’Hadd , ghax fil-kas mhux biss ma jgharfukx, izda nahseb l’anqas biss ma jindunaw bik.
Le ma niktibx fil-gazzetti u m’ghandix idea ghal min qed tghid….
Minjaf jekk Robert Musumeci hux kaz ta’ mistaken identity ukoll u qed tahsbu xi hadd iehor. U ejja iddahhaqx, Consuelo. Does she think that we are all idiots? She should be ashamed throwing accusations like that, and then Michael Cassar of all people.
How on earth can you mix up the faces of former police inspector Patrick Spiteri and assistant commissioner Michael Cassar, not to mention their physique?
Is your site sponsored by someone? I don’t know where i read that your site is sponsored by some government entity? Is that true or not?
[Daphne – No.]
You probably read it on Maltastar, that paragon of virtue followed by a bunch of lemmings who don’t know what they’re talking about.
The ‘funny’ thing is she did not exercise her right to reply, as she probably figured this is pretty much your thing, and decided to fight back in her comfort zone – the law courts – and managed to not only publicise the whole thing further, but dig herself a bigger hole too.
She needs a very big hole, if she’s going to bury the shabby reputation she’s earning herself by making this sort of mistake.
Methinks she’s got one already. Certainly seems to be working hard at it.
If her memory for names and faces is so bad, how can Scerri Herrera be believed when she assures the court that she never was at a party where someone else used drugs? Mightn’t she be mistaking identities in this case as well?
More importantly, does she remember if a person appearing before her in the dock is somebody she slept with? That is a legitimate question, given the circumstances, and given the fact that – according to what she stated in court on Monday – being accused of cheating on your husband repeatedly is not defamatory.
Yes this is what i’ve read “DCG’s web page is sponsored by choosemalta.com which is the property of the Malta Tourism Authority”. If this is true it’s a BIG shame. Hope it’s not.
And what conviction you have?! What is clear from your blog is passionate hatred towards anyone who shows or has a progressive political orientation.
[Daphne – I know where you read it: in a reader’s comment posted on that truly brilliant paragon of reportage and writing, the Labour Party’s website maltastar.com. Choosemalta.com is a 100% private business – there are such things, though socialists don’t understand it – which has nothing to do with the government or with the Malta Tourism Authority. Choosemalta.com does not sponsor this website. Sponsoring implies charity or doing somebody a favour. It advertises on this website – a business decision taken because of the high, concentrated traffic, much of it coming from people overseas who have an interest in or connection to Malta. Now go and take a cold shower. I know it’s incomprehensible to people like you that it is possible to be successful at something without favours or padrini, and I fear that your clinging to the Labour Party and using maltastar.com as a reliable source of information will not help you get out of your mental rut.]
Hekk. So there! Sewwa irrisponditkom Daphne, forsi fl-ahhar titghalmu xi haga w ma tibqghux sahta fuq dan il-pajjiz.
Fejn taraw nfuskom bhala ‘progressivi’? Ja qabda mirdumin wahda fid-dlam u fil-medjuevu tant li lanqas biss ma tintebhu kemm tidru ridikoli kull meta tifthu halqkom jew tippruvaw tghamlu xi haga.
Progressivi fil-maltastar bl-Ingliz imghaffeg u li ma jiftieghemx?
U tiftakru meta organizzajtu maratona fuq One TV ghal-gbir ta’ fondi ghal-partit fallut li ghandkom, fl-istess hin tal-mass meeting tal-partit fuq il-Fosos – u mbaghad skantajtu ghax hadd ma cempel jghati il-flus?
Dak progress u success hej!
If i am in a mental rut cause i read maltastar you are in the same boat dear cause apparently even you read that source.
I only asked you a question and you end up insulting. i’m sorry but you are STUPID cause i am neither a PL supporter and by any means i don’t want to associate myself with PN supporters thanks to you. I am where i am because i’m good and all with my effort and not because i know some big heads like you do or because i’m an evil person and everyone is afraid of me!
[Daphne – And you say you’re not a Labour supporter….din bhal tal-magistrat u l ‘fucking liar’.]
Where are you, marta?
I’m genuinely interested in knowing how anyone could get anywhere desirable without rudimentary (look it up) grammar and an ability to spell, much less an ability to construct a coherent argument in support of their particular cause.
I do know people who don’t know how to write properly and who are in a high, well paid position. In fact, I know more than one. We are in Malta after all!
I don’t deny that. I’m just wondering how they get there. I’m interested to know from ‘Marta’
A. where she came from
B. where she is now
C. how she moved from A to B.
Marta darling, I’m sure you’ll be delighted to hear you have just been elected PL supporter of the week. No wonder, you have all the attributes necessary to qualify for a life membership.
Marta,
go aand have five winks. Biz-zmien jghaddilek;naqra pacenzja.
Martha… hu nifs il-gewwa u ghodd sal mija.. good girl.
I sincerely hope the magistrate had a “mistaken identity.” I was worried that it could be “amnesia,” since she also said that she did not know Daphne.
Worse still, at or after middle-age, one can start showing symptoms of dementia.
I once gave someone a velveteen frog emblazoned with the words ‘A man is as young as the woman he feels’. I wish I had it now, Daphne. I could have given it to you to keep on your lap in the dock when Kermit sues you for saying that he cheated on his wife with Miss Piggy. Maybe they just held hands for a couple of years, who knows?
[Daphne – A man is as young as the woman he feels. That would make Kermit 45, miskin.]
Martha, Daphne answered your question with a NO. You came back insulting her. We are not idiots. We can read between the lines.
This is not about being a Nationalist or a Laburist. This is about being MALTESE. Those MPs, be they PN or PL, who support this magistrate are not worthy to be in parliament.