Consuelo Herrera
I know that my loyal readers (including the ones who would like to see me hanged, drawn and quartered) will be pouring in here for the news, but there’s not much to say really.
You know me, I’ve never been a big one for gloating or crowing. It’s sort of a Labour thing to do and I prefer to be magnanimous in victory even towards individuals who are far from gracious in defeat.
The bare facts are as follows. In the week beginning 17 October, I drew up a list of witnesses who should be notified to testify at the sitting on 25 October.
My lawyer submitted this list to the police, so that the witnesses could be served with notice to appear before the court. Magistrate Herrera and her lawyer were copied with the list as per procedure.
A few days later, the court received a formal request from Magistrate Herrera to have the sitting postponed ‘due to illness’.
A new date was set for 25 November, this Friday.
Yesterday, my lawyer was informed that Magistrate Herrera, through her lawyer, had formally informed the court that she has no interest in pursuing the case any further.
The court ordered that I should be notified immediately, and a policeman arrived with the papers a couple of hours ago (I wasn’t at home yesterday afternoon).
She gave as her reason the statement that I had withdrawn my allegations. I have, of course, done nothing of the sort. On the witness stand, I did the opposite of that and explained them in further detail.
The only way to avoid having certain witnesses take the stand at this late stage is to stop the case altogether.
So I accept that Magistrate Herrera needed to save face, though I think it was a mistake to give spurious reasons instead of just doing the sensible thing and saying ‘I withdraw my complaint’ and leaving it at that.
That’s all for now.
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What can one say? Consuelo could not stand the flack any more. She knew that in Court, many more truths would be revealed.
As things are, I think that if there is any honour left in the woman, she should hand in her resignation. There is no other way, I think.
Daphne has achieved a victory which would be considered as “truth will always prevail” (Is-sewwa jirbah ZGUR”.
Can you disclose the list of witnesses?
Dear Daphne, congratulations to a certain extent. I was waiting with trepidation for the salacious information which your witnesses would have dished out on Consuelo.
I believe that this case should not be forgotten and little snippets of it should be mentioned from time to time.
Prosit Daphne, I never doubted that you will be out of this with flying colours. This also proves that truth prevails.
Bully for you! Daphne.
For Consuelo, there is only one other thing for her to do at this stage.
Yes, resign.
Prosit Daphne. Magistrate Scerri Herrera was playing on her own home turf, and she now lies there defeated in the game she asked for. To her credit, why is it that I think that it is not only her face that has been saved with this decision?
Daphne, I congratulate you for the cowardly retreat you have forced Consuelo to make. However, whoever is expecting the magistrate to resign her post should know that some people in that profession ‘ghandhom so**om u wicchom xorta’.
What a flipping spoilsport! We’d been looking forward to that for ages! Some people just have no consideration for others………..
……….oh, but good for you of course, Daphne.
‘Informed sources confirmed opposition leader Joseph Muscat being one of the witnesses’
No wonder she lost interest.
Musumeci?
A police inspector or two?
Just wondering!
Well, there’s no ‘withdrawal of allegations’ mentioned in the original reports of your testimony.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110906/local/caruana-galizia.383569
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110907/local/Columnist-accuses-magistrate-of-cavorting-with-policeman-and-chatting-with-defence.383607
Prosit. Great guts.
Mmmmm – it looks as though Maltatoday, always first with the news when it suits them, are still in conference trying to work out what angle to give this report, or whether to hide it from their readers altogether.
Easy – the Magistrate has already given them the hook:
Magistrate drops charges after She-Whose-Name-Must-Not-Be-Spoken, AKA the Bile Vomitting Wicked Witch of Bidnija, is forced to retract all allegations
They are still showing the “Miracle Man” behind the “cunning plan.”
Only one big question remains, Daphne: what was the talcum powder you referred to with regards to the magistrate’s parties? Were they nappy-changing parties? As we say in Maltese, ‘hallejtna fuq ix-xwiek!’
[Daphne – It’s in my testimony. Look it up the report.]
“Hanged, drawn and quartered”? Nah, burning at the stake would do nicely.
Well done please.
I take it back. Admittedly it isn’t funny, and now I realise I went overboard with my last comment.
Apologies.
Daphne who is going to pay for the expences involved ? Hope the Magistrate . And what is going to happen with the false statements she made in court ?
These questions should be put to the Attorney General and copied to the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
Well done Ms.Caruana Galizia. I never had any doubt that you were saying the truth and primarily only interested in rendering a service to society. Once again well done and thank you.
Now that court proceedings are over, if there is a reasonable doubt that a crime (perjury) has been committed, then the police are duty-bound to investigate.
What a waste of time and public and private money. What is to stop the rich buying censorship by threatening to take anyone to court who says something true but inconvenient about them?
Surely part of the Magistrate’s required expertise is to know when a case has a reasonable chance of success before pursuing it further.
Even if, as she wrongly claims, she dropped the case because you retracted your statements, she is still in the wrong because she is using the courts only to bully her way to her desired outcome.
Either the case had merit and had a resonable chance of success and should have been pursued to the end, or it was a waste of time and the courts should impose a fine in proportion to the hardship suffered by the public purse and by you.
Consuelo didn’t pay to take the case to court. She sat on the police to do so and then paid a lawyer to protect her reputation.
Well done !!
Good on you Daph!!
It’s in keeping with the PL’s new buzz word.
The inevitable has come to pass. What is left for her to do is to resign immediately, although she is thick-skinned and probably will try to hang on to her job.
However she will always be under a cloud of suspicion and has to live with the fact that the only reason she stopped the action was simply to save face and to prevent the exposure of more filth for which she would have paid a heavier price.
This time, only one policeman, and in the morning.
Santino must be disappointed, misses the excitement.
GRRRRREAT.
[Daphne – He gave it his best shot anyway.]
Allura int ma stajtx Daphne titlob biex il-kawza tibqa sejra?
[Daphne – No, only for a judgment, which would be stupid without witnesses having been heard.]
From TM on line
Victor Laiviera
Today, 14:33
What she said in her blog and what she said in court are almost opposites – that looks very much like a withdrawal.
Imma veru tuba dan il-bniedem.
Maybe Mr Laiviera should ask the magistrate about her experience with withdrawals.
Daphne, they came after you all guns blazing and whimpered away tail firmly stuck between their legs. In footballing terms it was a walk-over, you scored a hat-trick and you get to keep the ball.
Prosit Daphne.
Fl-ahhar is-sewwa jirbah. Int irbaht ghax kont konvinta li qieghda fuq in-naha tas-sewwa.
Have you noticed that for Malta Today this is a non event?
It will be interesting to see what happens next to the dear magistrate. One thing is clear ironically – she could not face the Court if not sitting on the Bench
All I can add is well done Daphne!
She can’t resign can she? What will she do, become Labour’s shadow for justice? I bet there’s some email asking her to bear it, as that’s where she’s needed at the moment.
Shit! No more fuel for my imaginations.
[Daphne – Got more than one, have you? Lucky boy.]
Prosit!!!!!
With so many exclamation marks, one would think you read too much Maltastar.
Well done Daphne, Malta needs you!
Well she backed out the cowardly way, what does that say about her integrity?
What a shame. Was looking forward to sitting in that court room for a couple of hours and staring at Consuelo sitting there in shame. Well done to you.
Well, TVM did a good job of getting a very appropriate photo of the (still robed) magistrated sitting, arms crossed, with an awfully sulky expression on her face. A stark contrast to those of the unmentionable vile blogger sahhara of Bidnija, if I may add.
Min jaf l-atmosfera s-Sggiewi illejla!
Prosit, Daphne.
Congratulations Daphne!
The (illicit) spice would have been unbearable i guess.
Well done Daphne.
Prosit Daphne!!
Hekk sew. Magistrate Herrera had asked the police to initiate libel proceedings against you, hence the taxpayer was paying for this court case. Npw she withdraws. Hope she will be made to pay for the expenses.
Magistrate Herrera’s bet that by instituting court action she would shut you up was a badly calculated risk.
She never realised that this would make her case worse, because you cannot be accused of the same crime twice and this would draw more attention on herself and her behaviour, and that you had worked out a good strategy for your case.
When she realised the enormity of her losses, she must have been advised to cut those losses.
Well done and thank you Daphne.
Isn’t it the norm that once charges are filed under criminal libel, then the police proceed ex-ufficio even if the complainant ‘loses her interest’?
[Daphne – Of course not. It all depends on the ‘crime’.]
Now I know, it’s not only the English language that you so ably master,,,,,, but also spoilsport magistrates !
What? No more updates? And with exams round the corner too!
Seriously, though a big well done!
Unbelievable.
Very well done Daphne!
Is it true that you gave a comment to the PBS newsroom? If it is, I believe that’s not typical of you – speaking to the media.
[Daphne – I always do, if they ask me.]
Ha nerga insaqsi. Allura fuq ix-xhieda falza li taght ma tistax tigi immresqa il-qorti, din imbaghad jittellaw ix-xhieda?
Whichever way you slice it, Herrera must resign. No other magistrate in the world would escape without impeachment.
She is not Jane Citizen, for pete’s sake – this is a M – A -G – I -S – T- R – A – T- E whose credibility should stem from impeccable conduct, both personal and professional. She doesn’t have a moral leg to stand on (intended).
I hope that, in the absence of a 2/3 majority in favour of her impeachment in Parliament (no prizes for guessing why that won’t happen), the Commision for Justice speaks up.
Whatever happens, Malta is indebted to Daphne, who would not be faced-down.
Well, Daphne, you did it. When this whole thing began, way back when, I commented that you should ‘go for it’.
You’ve gone a long way to smarten up the ‘out of control’ bunch of crazies to cool it.
Daphne, when you revealed to the world the inappropriate behaviour of the magistrate I was shocked. We desperately need journalists like you as Malta would be better served.
Instead of changing her behaviour that its not suitable for a magistrate she dared to file criminal charges against you.
For a woman that gets paid for judging people she really exercised an awful judgement. It is obvious to me that her position to the bench is untenable more than ever.
Well done, Daphne. It backfired on them. She will always be remembered for this criminal trial.
For a change justice has prevailed (in one way, if not the other).
Prosit to the gutsiest lady in town.
Well done!
A few words from Lou Bondi.
http://loubondi.blogspot.com/2011/11/court-of-consuelo-scerri-herrera.html#more
Va-va-voom Consi! That décolletage would get you a citation for contempt in most courtrooms outside Malta. And frankly, unless they’re serving swanky cocktails beside her bench, that ostentatious, “arani, Mama!” necklace is so very, very inappropriate.
Months ago an impeachment motion in Parliament was suggested. I suppose, this would be in order although the motion will not obtain the two-thirds majority. There would be a record of the magistrate’s unbecoming behaviour throughout her career – I suppose it would have been better (for her) if the case had dragged on and on and on and on…. till 2013!!
well done
You should at least publish a list of the witnesses you had called to testify, and the connections of whatever nature they have/had with Her Honour, so that she will not be able to thwart you from publishing the unsavoury truth about people in high places to whom we are supposed to look up to and who should, by their behaviour, set an example to us all. — Prosit. Keep up the good work.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111124/local/Magistrate-wants-to-drop-libel-case-against-blogger.395310#.Ts4d86P81UA.facebook
So the times is reporting incorrectly here I take it?
[Daphne – Which bit? I agree that the sub-head is misleading. Lots of people don’t get what inverted commas mean. That I ‘withdrew the allegations’ is what she said, not what I did. She had to give a reason for dropping the case, and couldn’t give the real reason.]
Daphne for president.
Another nail in their coffin?..or just to borrow a title from Marquez – Chronicle of a death (read suicide) foretold?
Daphne rocks again!
If the magistrate does not resign then our laws for a just society are flawed .
I agree with you, especially after reading this
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111122/local/maximilian-ciantar-back-in-court-after-incident-with-journalists.395019
She must have been afraid of what will come out as a result of the witnesses. Congratulations Daphne and take care of yourself.
Not much more to be said – this morning the court decreed Daphne “not guilty” – of course we all knew this, but now we have a Court confirmation. What follows, now, depends on whether Consuelo has an iota of honour left in her conscience
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111125/local/columnist-cleared-of-harassing-magistrate.395451
Congrats Daphne.
Kif kien jghid Dr Fenech Adami, “Is-sewwa jirbah zgur!”
Nice win! Pity it stopped so early…