MCKEVITT LOSES FIGHT OVER FBI EVIDENCE
McKevitt loses fight over FBI evidence
CONVICTED Real IRA chief Michael McKevitt has lost his fight to have hearsay evidence from an FBI spy who infiltrated the paramilitary group excluded from the Omagh bomb civil action.
Mr Justice Morgan, the judge hearing the multi-million-pound compensation case at the High Court in Belfast, ruled that more than 2,300 pages of emails and documents involving David Rupert, the American trucker-turned intelligence agent, can be introduced.
Lawyers for McKevitt, one of five men being sued by relatives of some of those murdered in the 1998 atrocity, had argued that it would be unfair to allow the material.
Mr Rupert is on a witness-protection programme and forbidden by his FBI handlers from even appearing via video-link. McKevitt's lawyers claimed that allowing his evidence would deprive them of an opportunity to cross-examine Mr Rupert and to test his credibility.
The resistance from McKevitt, who is serving a 20-year sentence for directing terrorism after Mr Rupert's dramatic appearance as a key prosecution witness at his criminal trial in Dublin in 2003, was backed by Colm Murphy, another of those named in the families' action.
Murphy, the families allege, provided the telephones used in the transportation of the bomb into Omagh.
Both McKevitt and Murphy, along with the three other defendants - Seamus McKenna, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly - deny responsibility for the massacre.
After studying the Civil Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order, which governs hearsay issues, Mr Justice Morgan backed the bid to bring in the Rupert material.
But he also stressed that its significance could still be contested.
Issuing his ruling on the 15th day of the case, he said: "Conscious of my obligation to ensure a fair trial for all of the parties I consider that this is properly achieved by permitting the plaintiffs to admit the evidence and applying the appropriate safeguards contained within the 1997 order.
"That does not in any way diminish the entitlement of any defendant to a fair trial in this action, nor does it prohibit or predetermine a submission on behalf of the defendants once the evidence is received that 1 should accord it no weight."
As well as the emails and documents, the families' lawyers plan to use transcripts from more than 10 days Mr Rupert spent in the witness box at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
Mr Justice Morgan said he was also aware of substantial material which McKevitt will seek to use in a bid to portray the spy as "a dishonest and unprincipled person whose primary interest is in securing monetary gain".
"I immediately recognise that there is force in the submission advanced on behalf of these defendants that I will not have the opportunity to assess the demeanour of Mr Rupert in the witness box and that the transcript may be an unsatisfactory substitute for that," the judge said.
"I also accept that there are likely to be questions related to the matters the subject of this action which were not posed in the criminal proceedings in Dublin and which it might be advantageous for the third named defendant (McKevitt) to pose in these proceedings."
Meanwhile, Mr Justice Morgan also confirmed that the trial was being classified as civil, compensatory proceedings.
This followed arguments by the defendants' lawyers that the case constituted a criminal charge, with subsequent entitlement to rights, based on the allegations that they were responsible for murdering 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins, and the plaintiffs' desire to hold the wrongdoers to account.
The trial was adjourned until tomorrow, when a further ruling on security services documents is to be made.
It will then move to Dublin on Monday when nearly 30 Garda witnesses are due to begin giving evidence during a week of hearings.
CONVICTED Real IRA chief Michael McKevitt has lost his fight to have hearsay evidence from an FBI spy who infiltrated the paramilitary group excluded from the Omagh bomb civil action.
Mr Justice Morgan, the judge hearing the multi-million-pound compensation case at the High Court in Belfast, ruled that more than 2,300 pages of emails and documents involving David Rupert, the American trucker-turned intelligence agent, can be introduced.
Lawyers for McKevitt, one of five men being sued by relatives of some of those murdered in the 1998 atrocity, had argued that it would be unfair to allow the material.
Mr Rupert is on a witness-protection programme and forbidden by his FBI handlers from even appearing via video-link. McKevitt's lawyers claimed that allowing his evidence would deprive them of an opportunity to cross-examine Mr Rupert and to test his credibility.
The resistance from McKevitt, who is serving a 20-year sentence for directing terrorism after Mr Rupert's dramatic appearance as a key prosecution witness at his criminal trial in Dublin in 2003, was backed by Colm Murphy, another of those named in the families' action.
Murphy, the families allege, provided the telephones used in the transportation of the bomb into Omagh.
Both McKevitt and Murphy, along with the three other defendants - Seamus McKenna, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly - deny responsibility for the massacre.
After studying the Civil Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order, which governs hearsay issues, Mr Justice Morgan backed the bid to bring in the Rupert material.
But he also stressed that its significance could still be contested.
Issuing his ruling on the 15th day of the case, he said: "Conscious of my obligation to ensure a fair trial for all of the parties I consider that this is properly achieved by permitting the plaintiffs to admit the evidence and applying the appropriate safeguards contained within the 1997 order.
"That does not in any way diminish the entitlement of any defendant to a fair trial in this action, nor does it prohibit or predetermine a submission on behalf of the defendants once the evidence is received that 1 should accord it no weight."
As well as the emails and documents, the families' lawyers plan to use transcripts from more than 10 days Mr Rupert spent in the witness box at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
Mr Justice Morgan said he was also aware of substantial material which McKevitt will seek to use in a bid to portray the spy as "a dishonest and unprincipled person whose primary interest is in securing monetary gain".
"I immediately recognise that there is force in the submission advanced on behalf of these defendants that I will not have the opportunity to assess the demeanour of Mr Rupert in the witness box and that the transcript may be an unsatisfactory substitute for that," the judge said.
"I also accept that there are likely to be questions related to the matters the subject of this action which were not posed in the criminal proceedings in Dublin and which it might be advantageous for the third named defendant (McKevitt) to pose in these proceedings."
Meanwhile, Mr Justice Morgan also confirmed that the trial was being classified as civil, compensatory proceedings.
This followed arguments by the defendants' lawyers that the case constituted a criminal charge, with subsequent entitlement to rights, based on the allegations that they were responsible for murdering 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins, and the plaintiffs' desire to hold the wrongdoers to account.
The trial was adjourned until tomorrow, when a further ruling on security services documents is to be made.
It will then move to Dublin on Monday when nearly 30 Garda witnesses are due to begin giving evidence during a week of hearings.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0930
Published Date: 07-May-08
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