Abuse Cases: Late Correction of Charges Would Have Put Whole Case at Risk AG, Times of Malta, August 9, 2011

Abuse Cases: Late Correction of Charges Would Have Put Whole Case at Risk - AG

Times of Malta
August 9, 2011

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110808/local/child-abuse-cases-late-correction-of-charges-would-have-put-whole-case-at-risk-ag.379416

The priests, Godwin Scerri and Carmelo Pulis, convicted of child sex abuse last week.

The Office of the Attorney General this evening explained that a decision to correct a rape charge faced by one of the priests involved in the child sex abuse cases may well have caused the whole case to collapse.

One of the priests found guilty of child sex abuse last week was freed of a rape charge due to a failing of the prosecution.

The charge sheet said the rape took place in Marfa, not Sta Venera, as the victim had testified.

The Office of the Attorney General said it wanted to explain that:

The police arraigned the accused on October 13, 2003. The first court sitting was held on October 28, 2003.

On April 15, 2004 the articles were issued by the Office of the Attorney General and the case started being heard by the Magistrates' Court. On May 5, 2004 the prosecution concluded its case and he defence took over.

On March 9, 2011 the defence declared it had no further evidence to present.

Throughout the process the victims were part of the case and were assisted by their lawyers.

Referring to claims that the charge sheet could have been corrected by the Attorney General during the past eight years, the AG's Office pointed out that the Attorney General did not lead the prosecution before the court.

More importantly, in such cases, a correction in a late stage of proceedings created consequences and risks for the prosecution.

The accused could demand to be notified once more of all the charges. They could demand that testimony be heard all over again.

All this raised the risk of the case being declared time-barred and all the case, and not just the incorrect charge, would collapse. Re-hearing all the testimony also incurred the risk of delays, mistakes and discrepancies between witnesses. Therefore, correcting the charge was not an easy solution and a late correction could well destroy the whole case.

The AG's Office noted that the mistake in the charge sheet was revealed for the first time in the judgement handed down by the Magistrates' court, which is subject to appeal.

The Office said the case is still sub-judice as an appeal is pending and it, therefore, would not comment on the merits at this stage. The prosecution will do so in submissions to the court.

The Office also pointed out that the Chief Justice, Silvio Camilleri, was appointed Attorney General on May 11, 2004 while the current Attorney General, Dr Peter Grech was appointed on September 9 last year.