No proceeds of crime for Corby ... Solicitor for Channel 7 gets nice little grovel from AFP commissioner ... No injunction or suppression orders for Kerry Stokes or his lawyer in defamation proceedings ... Blogger blowout
Negus: Sorry Justine
ONE of Channel 7's lawyers, Justine Munsie from Addisons in Sydney, has received a letter from the chief federal copper, Tony Negus.
It was a comforting missive - even though it was written in police patois:
"As you know, on 17 February 2014, a magistrate purported to issue an order under section 246 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 requiring you to provide information and assistance in connection with a search warrant purportedly issued on the same day.
The section 246 order erroneously identified you as as being 'reasonably suspected of having committed the offence stated in the warrant' ...
The AFP has consistently acknowledged that you are not, and have not ever, been suspected on committing any offence.
On behalf of the Australian Federal Police, I apologise for the error and any distress it has caused you."
That letter arrived because Munsie had appeared at a Senate inquiry into the AFP.
Senator Nick Xenophon asked her whether she had received an apology from the AFP after Inspector Plod had come barging in with invalid search warrants and s.246 orders while scrabbling around to see if Channel 7 had forked-up any money to Shapelle Corby.
The answer was "No" to the first question and "Yes" to the second. Next thing Commissioner Negus is licking the stamp with his missive to Munsie.
This came after Justice Jayne Jagot in the Federal Court found that the warrants and orders issued under the Proceeds of Crime Act were way out of line.
See: Seven West Media v Commissioner, Australian Federal Police
There are further proceedings relating to costs.
* * *
Munsie: wants an injunction
IT was the AFP and the warrants in relation to the proceeds of crime hunt that excited Shane Dowling the author of a blog site, Kangaroo Court of Australia, who posted an article on February 23 claiming that Kerry Stokes and Justine Munsie were lying in the Schapelle Corby matter.
Among the allegations flung about in his rant were:
"If it does hit court next week as threatened by Seven [in the PoC matter], Kerry Stokes and Justine Munsie will perjure themselves like there is no tomorrow as both have form on the board for doing so. Kerry Stokes perjured himself in the C7 case a few years ago which I wrote about previously. And just last December Mrs Munsie was in the witness stand perjuring herself when she was representing bullyboy Ray Hadley from 2gb."
A statement of claim pleads that Munsie and Stokes were defamed in that they lied and committed perjury, either in dishonestly hiding documents or using threats to avoid revealing documents to the police.
Munsie and Stokes sought an injunction and take-down orders, but Justice Hormones Harrison wasn't persuaded.
See: Munsie & Stokes v Dowling
He also rejected the contention that Dowling was in contempt in that his posts were designed to intimidate the plaintiffs in pursuing litigation against him.
"I am principally not satisfied that Mr Dowling has done or that he threatens to do anything that could amount to an abuse of process or a contempt of this court by acting in a way calculated to cause, or possibly having the effect of amounting to, an interference with the proper administration of justice."
Harrison thought that what Dowling had published, and continues to have posted on his website, would not much more than "an annoyance" for the plaintiffs.
"Ms Munsie is a well-respected and well-known member of the legal profession whose reputation amongst her professional colleagues in particular is unlikely to suffer at all pending the vindication that she seeks in these proceedings. Mr Stokes is even more widely known. I cannot agree that he will suffer any particular hardship in the circumstances as he waits for these proceedings to take their course."
Justice Hormones Harrison: blogger no more than an annoyance
However, the judge had earlier issued a suppression order in relation to the defamation proceedings, which Dowling ignored:
"Kerry Stokes has suppression order put on defamation proceedings against KCA publisher.Seven West Media Chairman Kerry Strokes has instructed a judge of the NSW Supreme Court, Justice Harrison, to put a suppression order on defamation proceedings that Kerry Stokes has instituted against me, Shane Dowling, and this website, Kangaroo Court of Australia.[snip]The suppression order issued by Justice Harrison is one of the most dangerous documents I have ever read. It in effect says that I cannot tell anyone anything about Kerry Stokes’s proceedings against me and I have to show up to court on Thursday.
[snip]
Kerry Stokes has been caught closing down the media. This is clearly a denial of natural justice by Justice Harrison and when you look at the facts Justice Harrison has committed the criminal offence of helping Kerry Stokes attempt to conceal his previous perjury in the C7 matter which I have previously written about."
The judge explained that he had issued ex parte orders suppressing publication of the defamation action to give Dowling an opportunity to come to court and explain his defence.
"In the events that occurred, my caution was wholly and extravagantly misunderstood by Mr Dowling, who reacted very strongly to the fact that such an order had been made."
Later Harrison said:
"The very nature of the things published by Mr Dowling about each plaintiff at one level demonstrates or at least support the probability that they are the product of some generalised animosity or unsourced disaffection rather than reliable research or established facts. The plaintiffs would appear to have a strong prime facie case."
The case for contempt for breaching the interim suppression order will go ahead, with directions on May 16.
Following an email from Dowling to Chief Justice Bathurst, Harrison said he'll step aside from hearing the contempt case.
Sometimes, it pays to steadfastly ignore a lot of what appears on the internet.