Brian Curtin

Brian Curtin is a former Irish circuit court judge who was tried for possessing images of child pornography. Although Curtin was found not guilty, due to insufficient evidence the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, launched an impeachment motion in the Dáil to remove him from the judiciary. Curtin resigned before the process could be completed and was not impeached.

Judge Curtin was appointed to the circuit court in November 2001. He was assigned to the South Western circuit, (County Kerry) but had not been listed to hear cases since May 2002 when the controversy began.

Trial and Acquittal

Curtin was one of those targeted in the May 2002 Operation Amethyst, an investigation triggered when the Gardaí received details from US police of credit-card transactions from 1999 involving Irish subscribers to a Texas-based child-porn website. [cite news
last = O'Kelly
first = Barry
url = http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2004/05/16/story362446926.asp
work = The Sunday Business Post
publisher = Thomas Crosbie Holdings
title = Curtin detective rules out virus
date = 2004-05-16
accessdate = 2007-05-13] As a result of the investigation, a number of people were charged and convicted.

Detectives executed a search warrant on the Judge's private residence, seized his computer and reported finding 273 child pornographic images on the hard disk. Curtin was charged in January 2003.

Following delays due to the judge's ill-health, the trial took place in April 2004. At the trial, Curtin claimed that the search was illegal because it had taken place outside the limit of the 7-day warrant. The Gardaí claimed that the delay was due to Curtin's extended absence from his home and that when it took place at 2:20pm on 27 May 2002, it was still within the 7-day limit. [cite news
last = O'Kelly
first = Barry
url = http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2004/05/02/story948455514.asp
work = The Sunday Business Post
publisher = Thomas Crosbie Holdings
title = Judge Curtin's home staked out for days
date = 2004-05-02
accessdate = 2007-05-13] [cite news
last = Hickey
first = Donal
url = http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2004/04/24/story755830857.asp
work = Irish Examiner
publisher = Thomas Crosbie Holdings
title = It was wrong for prosecution to bring this case to trial
date = 2004-04-24
accessdate = 2007-05-13] The trial judge ruled that the search was illegal. As a result the computer evidence found could not be used. Without that evidence Curtin was found not guilty, the judge declaring that the case was "crystal clear". [cite news
url = http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0423/curtinb.html
publisher = rte.ie
work = RTÉ News
title = Trial of judge Curtin collapses
date = 2004-04-23
accessdate = 2007-05-13
quote = In his seven page written judgement, Judge Moran described the submissions made by the prosecution on the validity of the search warrant as 'untenable and nonsensical'. He said the prosecution must have known or at least ought to have known that on any reasonable interpretation of the issues any judge in any court would have excluded the relevant evidence. Judge Moran said the law was crystal clear and the issue could not be simpler. He said it was wrong for the prosecution to bring this case to trial when they knew or ought to have known that the warrant had expired and the evidence collected as a result of the execution of the warrant would have been inadmissible. ]

Attempted Impeachment

There was considerable public outcry in response to the acquittal. Online opinion polls showed little support for his continuing to serve on the bench [cite news
url = http://www.evening-herald.ie/polls/index.php3?ident=Irish%20Independent&mypollid=1157&vo=1
publisher = The Evening Herald
title = Poll: Should Judge Curtin step down?
date = ?? May, 2004] . Curtin refused a Government request to step down, claiming that constitutionally he could only be removed for "stated misbehaviour". Sources close to Curtin claimed that the pornographic images may have been the result of a computer virus [cite news
url = http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=169775350&p=y69776x56
publisher = IOL Breaking News
title = Supreme Court to deliver Curtin judgment in March
date = 2006-01-19] .

In June 2004 Justice Minister McDowell moved an impeachment motion in the Dail, saying Curtin was "unsuitable to exercise the office of a judge of the Circuit Court". [cite news
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3771287.stm
work = BBC News
publisher = bbc.co.uk
title = Motion to impeach judge begins
date = 2004-06-02
accessdate = 2007-05-13] [cite news
url = http://193.178.1.238/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20040603.xml&Node=224
publisher = Dáil debates
title = Motion by the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Ms Hanafin), Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas
date = 2004-06-03] This was an unprecedented move in Irish judicial history. The Irish constitutional judicial removal proceedings, commonly referred to as impeachment, had never previously been invoked. The Dáil suspended the motion and established a joint Oireachtas select committee to examine the evidence. This inquiry was challenged by Judge Curtin in the courts. The challenges were unsuccessful and following a Supreme Court ruling in March 2006 upholding the process, the select committee took custody of the computer from the Gardaí and hired experts to examine it. Judge Curtin's legal team engaged the services of UK Forensic Computing Expert Paul Vella of [http://www.evidence-matters.com Evidence Matters Ltd.] . The process took longer than expected but they planned to issue a report to the Oireachtas in late 2006 to facilitate a debate and vote. [cite news
url = http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2006/08/30/story12069.asp
work = Irish Examiner
publisher = Thomas Crosbie Holdings
title = Curtin committee faces fresh delays
date = 2006-08-30
accessdate = 2007-05-13] However in November 2006, days before he was to give evidence in private to the committee, Judge Curtin resigned from the judiciary on health grounds, ending the investigation. Having then reached five years service, he qualified for the minimum statutory pension. [cite news
title = Curtin resigns on grounds of ill health
work = RTÉ News
publisher = rte.ie
date = 2006-11-13
url = http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1113/curtinb.html
quote = An Oireachtas Committee said that in the light of Judge Curtin's resignation, it would not now proceed with its inquiry into alleged misconduct by the Judge following his acquittal on charges of possession of child pornography in 2004.
accessdate = 2007-05-13

]

References