A bench warrant will be issued for the arrest of Judge Brian Curtin, of the Circuit Court, if he fails to attend court on June 11th to face charges of possessing child pornography, Judge Humphrey Kelleher said yesterday.
Judge Kelleher was speaking at the adjourned hearing of the case in Tralee District Court, when he declined jurisdiction to try it, and asked the DPP to seek an order on that date to have the case tried before a judge and jury in the Circuit Court. Judge Curtin was not in court yesterday.
Judge Kelleher made his decision after he examined a file of images allegedly downloaded from Mr Justice Curtin's computer. After adjourning the hearing for 15 minutes to examine the images, he said: "I cannot but be of the opinion that the offence as alleged is most serious and not fit to be tried summarily. I must decline jurisdiction."
The maximum sentence that can be imposed by a district court after a summary hearing of a case is 12 months. Possession of child pornography under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act carries a maximum sentence of five years in the Circuit Court, depending on the circumstances and the nature of the material.
The hearing was adjourned until yesterday from last January, because Judge Curtin had been unable to attend the court on health grounds.
Two weeks ago his solicitor, Mr Robert Pierse, sought a prolonged adjournment of the case from another District Court judge sitting that day in Tralee, Judge Leo Malone.
Mr Pierse submitted an affidavit in support of his application stating that extensive media coverage of the case had had a seriously adverse effect on his client's health; both he and his client believed he could not get a fair trial, and said Mr Curtin could not prepare his defence while in his present condition. Accordingly, he sought a prolonged adjournment to allow him to be restored to health.
Judge Malone adjourned the matter to yesterday's sitting.
When it came up yesterday, Judge Kelleher said he first had to decide whether to accept jurisdiction in the case, and asked to look at the images in his chamber. Supt Noel White, from the National Bureau of Crime Investigation, handed a large folder of images to him, and he adjourned the hearing briefly.
When Judge Kelleher returned to court and declined jurisdiction, he ordered the DPP to present the Book of Evidence on or before June 11th, that is, within the 42 days fixed by the Criminal Prosecution Act. When the case comes before him on that day, he said he expected to be asked for an order to refer it to the Circuit Court.
The judge than asked Mr Pierse if his client was in court. Mr Pierse said his client was not fit to attend, and, when asked where he was now, he replied he thought he was at his father's home in Abbeydorney, Co Kerry.
Dr Matt Kinch, a psychiatrist practising in Tralee, was called to give evidence of Judge Curtin's state of health. "Is this man able to come into court for a couple of minutes this morning?" asked the judge. "He does not have to say anything, and he won't be addressed." Dr Kinch replied that there was nothing to stop him physically, but that he had advised him not to attend. He said he had psychiatric and physiological problems, including a cardiac problem that predated the current circumstances. He had been in the intensive care unit of the Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee.
"Is there a serious risk in this man coming to court?" asked Mr Pierse. "A risk, yes," replied Dr Kinch. "He has expressed suicidal ideas in the past."
He added that, following the media attention that resulted from the previous hearing, he had ordered Judge Curtin into hospital, and he had then been referred for a time to St Patrick's Psychiatric Hospital in Dublin.
When Mr Pierse asked Dr Kinch: "Is he satisfied now he cannot get a fair trial?" Judge Kelleher intervened to say: "That's a matter for the trial judge. Could he not come in (to the court) and sit in the back and go?"
"It would be possible. It would be quite stressful," replied the doctor.
"I am not satisfied that Judge Curtin is precluded on medical grounds from attending court today," said Judge Kelleher. "I will issue a bench warrant for his arrest to appear in court if he does not appear in person on the 11th of June."
Mr Pierse asked if he could have liberty to make an application if there were new circumstances. "You have no liberty to do anything," replied the judge. "The matter comes only to this court. It will come before me. I'll be here, please God. There is no procedure in the District Court for submissions of evidence on affidavit."