Arrested sergeant’s defence counsel is Law Commission President
Published:
December 5, 2014 at 7:30pm
Franco Debono is defence counsel to Police Sergeant Le Roy Balzan Engerer. I’m trying to work out what this means. If PS Balzan Engerer were a PN supporter, he would not have picked Frankie Tabone.
And yes, of course his politics are relevant in a situation like this. I’m just trying to work out what the ramifications are. It’s looking quite complicated.
52 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Franco Debono, despite everything that he is and has done seems to get good results in the courts. So it does not mean that the arrested police sergeant is an MLP supporter.
[Daphne – No, but it does mean he is not a PN supporter.]
I disagree. In a situation like this, I believe one would opt for what one perceives as the best option to obtain the best outcome.
It does not, should not, reflect on one’s political affiliation.
In such delicate times as this, political allegiance would be put aside and one’s survival and success would be the main focus. At the end of the day, it becomes a self preservation issue, I think.
I’m not so sure this time Daphne , when I read your article about Franco (http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/12/franco-debono-now-that-labour-is-embarrassing-he-doesnt-want-to-be-associated-with-it/) I would not be surprised if he volunteered (for want of a better word) to defend Police Sergeant Le Roy Balzan Engerer.
Ux ikkumplikat hu. Franco Debono l-ghazla naturali tal-Laburisti. Muhiex Laburist minn tal-qalba allura tort tieghu u jehel hu.
Dak kollox.
Hekk hu. Bhalissa hierga solidarjeta’ lil dawk li qed jaqalghu fuq rashom ghax PN minn dawk li mhumiex ‘ta’ gewwa’.
Perhaps he did not want to politicise his case and preferred to go halfway-house. Don’t underestimate Franco Debono in such a situation, especially given his recent mood swings.
[Daphne – I wouldn’t trust him. He works for the government and has a large salary, car and chauffeur, plus other perks and privileges to safeguard. Plus, he’s got a couple of screws loose.]
Loose screws do well in court.
True, but I never cease to be surprised by how many people who should know better think highly of Franco Debono.
If you think about it, unless one reads his Facebook or blog, or yours for that matter one would probably be forgiven for thinking he is not only a normal person but a great one.
All the mainstream media treat him with (undeserved) high regard and it seems most people just accept that as fact.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this sergeant is just another person misinformed about Debono.
Which government Mallia’s or Muscat’s?
On this level I totally agree… not a wise choice of lawyer given what Franco Debono could stand to lose if he betrays his client like he betrayed his party.
A couple of screwz…only
you criticise this government, you get removed from the OHSA regjster after 10 years
simples
The law commissioner gets these perks? Why?
As thanks for his efforts in bringing down the PN government ?
only a couple?
Unless he doesn’t want to replace the Minster.
This brings to mind the fact that George Farrugia (the one who received the presidential pardon) selected Franco Debono as his lawyer, who had a grudge against Austin Gatt and Lawrence Gonzi.
This will be fun!
[Daphne – What an utterly stupid and inane remark. This is not a show put on for your pea-brained entertainment. This is real life, with serious issues and serious consequences.]
Does Debono want to ingratiate himself with the Nationalists?
If ever I should need a lawyer, Franco Debono would be the last one I would refer to. He has much more than a couple of screws loose.
Dan is-surgent vittma! Min huwa dak il-mignun li bil-password tieghu ibiddel rapport jahraq bhal dan? Dan sens komun!
Conspiracy theory galore.
A good lawyer is defending an innocent until proven guilty person. No more and no less.
http://www.inewsmalta.com/dart/20141205-stessu-mal-ministru-ax-gradwajna
Ara wiccu fir-ritratti qisu fidil
It will all depend on what Franco Debono values most, his reputation as a good lawyer or his sucking up to the government.
If CCTV proves that the sergeant was not in the police station when his password was used to do the deed but the computer used was in fact the one at the station, then he would only have to face the giving his password charge or leaving it active. Of course if it was not this particular sergeant, then there is a larger can of worms in blame shifting.
In places I have seen regular sharing of passwords, the senior always knew, but of course proving that would depend on wheter others in the same station would testify to this.
Perhaps they thought if they tidied up the evidence, the case would be forgotten. Remove all evidence it ever happened.
Franco Debono has little scruples and does not differentiate between clients whether they be PN or MLP leaning.
He was Cyrus Engerer’s council when Cyrus was supporting PN.
He was Cyrus Engerer’s council when Cyrus was supporting MLP.
Ergo give him a hot case and cross his palm with silver and he’s yours.
Whether you’d like to be his is another matter.
I was a police officer colleague of Sergeant Leroy – and I know he is a Labour supporter as I sometimes discussed politics with him.
A big prosit to Joe Mikallef and Media.link communications. Keep on the good work. After a long time in hibernation you are back and doing an excellent job. Welcome back.
Mamma mia, how can they keep all this up?
I hope someone is writing the script, because all these lies and twists get very hard to keep up with.
To be a good liar you need a good memory. Considering that Joseph Muscat forgot he said he will resign over the power station saga, he is going to need one hell of a prompter.
The flip side to this could be, what was this young police sergeant offered to take the slack on this? How many zeros? Something is really off in this whole story. The fact that he is related to Cyrus Engerer makes it look more than a coincidence.
This whole saga reminds me of the devil’s advocate. I am starting to get breathless trying to keep up with all this.
What is up with the Detroit ghetto first names on young adults in Malta?
No one is called Guze or Gorg or Frans or Mario anymore.
Le Roy is an actual name.
Ghetto names are actually a by product of lost heritage. Where there is (entire tribes & their cultures were lost) ignorance in heritage and hatred of others, people will invent their own heritage.
Their forefathers even took their slave masters surname, because they had no name. JP Orlando Smith is an example of a borrowing the surname from a master.
I know Le Roy is an actual name.
It is a first name that is not normally associated with Maltese males.
Despite its Francophone origins, it was popular as a first name for males of Anglo Saxon extraction in the United States in the 19th century. In the 20th century, American blacks made that name practically theirs.
My take: the sergeant thinks he has been framed up by a Nationalist colleague. So he hires the services of Franco, because he is the lawyer who has “militated so strongly against injustice caused by the Nationalists”.
I think he is Labour and was simply following orders.
Then someone had to take the blame so they blamed the guy who did the dirty work.
Orders were obviously not in writing so he would have no proof that he was executing orders.
His defence will probably be that someone used his credentials to frame him hence pointing fingers to nobody, whereas saying the truth would be just his word against his superior’s and might have consequences.
[Daphne – Whether you are following orders or not, it is still a crime. If you follow an illegal/illicit order you are participating in the crime and are equally liable. That is why Muscat reacted so hysterically when Simon Busuttil accused him of using his influence to make sure that the police stopped investigating Dalli and did not charge him. That is a crime called ‘perverting the course of justice’.]
Tinten minn kull lat taghha.
His name is Lee Roy and not Leroy, and he is a very good friend of mine. I know for a fact that he is a PN supporter and quite a staunch one at that.
Having said that, I have no idea and cannot justify his choice of lawyer
Perhaps Franco Debono has not yet realised that to take Manwel Mallia’s place he should have been elected first.
Perhaps he is looking at a technical post.
Who knows what he has in mind at the moment?
Whatever it is, rest assured that it’s his personal benefit he would be looking at.
If you look closely at the cases Frankie wins, he always seems to do so on some technicality. He is not the proficient lawyer he wants us to believe he is.
And what about Inspector Sandro Camilleri? Why is the self-created President of the GWU Police Union and Acting Commissioner of Police’s best buddy (spends all the day in his office and writes all his statements) involved in this case? X’ghandu x’jaqsam?
There couldn’t be a better situation to portray this Italian saying: “Meglio un topo in bocca a un gatto che un cliente in mano a un avvocato”.
Are you sure that he isn’t a PN supporter?
[Daphne – It is irrelevant anyway.]
Question : Both Sheehan and Sgt Balzan Engerer are remanded in custody. Are they being kept apart or can they still communicate while in detention?
Will we be hearing the “PN plotted it all” theory ?
Was this guy arrested for leaking the recordings?
According to Maltarightnow, the information deleted wasn’t of any particular importance to the case.
There are two ways to look at this. It’s either the small details in that deleted part which are crucial to reveal another story whatsoever or this is one big plan to deviate public attention onto something else.
Koort? Mela mhuh Kert dak?
And while all this is going on the newspapers report that ‘I no longer do journalism’ has had his contract renewed.
That is one contract the government had no problems publishing thus making sure to publicly belittle the man.
Someone should ask him if the present situation has rekindled his desire to ‘do journalism’. Whatever that means.
Viva Manuel Mallia. Dak Nazzjonalist kbir, xebgha iwaqqahom ghan-nejk.
Oqghod ghamel il-moviment tal-moderati u progressivi, mbaghad dawn n-Nazzjonalisti jaghmlu li jridu.
Fejnhom il-Laburisti, jew dawk, skond Muscat, mdorrijin bl-isparaturi?
Minister Mallia keeps telling us that he was there with us in the 80s, fighting the rotten system.
He sure learned a thing or two from his erstwhile opponents and now best friends.
What if Franco Debono asked to cover his case? As in previous occasions, it’s all about him don’t forget. Maybe he wants to play a chess game against the government to get more of what he wants.
Who is Frankie Tabone?
The honourable prime minister sure knows how to chose his people in a position of trust.
I think we must see this from under the shadow of Franco Debono’s ego.
To start with, Franco Debono is not ‘a good lawyer’, he is an average lawyer who is a good marketer, just as he badgers those politicians from whom he needs or believes he deserves something, he does the same with court reporters. His wins are over reported. I pity the reporter who starts to report his losses.
In the 80’s his heroes (whose shoes he isn’t fit to clean) would have been Guido Demarco and Vanni Bonello, both of whom (in different fields of law) were very active in challenging Labour’s oppression and persecution, Demarco defending persecuted individuals, and Bonello challenging oppressive and anti-democratic laws.
I think some of Frankie Tabone’s actions before the election, and this case, should be seen in that context.
Again however, he’s not fit to clean their shoes.