pierre doyle
Transcripts of Aaron Brady’s trial were posted on Facebook through his father as part of a crusade to free Garda’s killer, despite a court order banning sharing them without permission.
Brady’s lawyers told the Court of Appeals Friday morning that the transcripts have not been shared online and are confident the court will remove them from the social media site until the “end of the day. “
When Chief Justice George Birmingham ordered last July that the transcripts be turned over to attorneys for either party, he said he was doing so “on the basis that they are for the appellant’s use and will no longer be distributed without the search engine’s permission. “
However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) later raised considerations that the curtains had been made public after they were posted on Facebook with “dubious” comments.
At a brief hearing today, Lorcan Staines SC, for the DPP, told Judge Birmingham that the transcripts were shared on the social media service through the defendant’s father, Tony Brady, after “they were all posted through this court. “
Staines said there is a specific fear about the transcript of Aaron Brady’s cross-examination that was posted on Facebook through Tony Brady.
Michael O’Higgins SC, by Aaron Brady, told the court he may not simply speak on behalf of Tony Brady, but said the evidence in question was provided to the defense through the prosecution.
“There are special arrangements for disclosure with the full cooperation of the prosecution,” he explained.
“It’s in this context that the transcripts were made for him [Tony Brady]. “
O’Higgins also said he agreed that the curtains of the trial had not been posted on Facebook.
“I was told that the final Facebook post will be deleted until the end of the day,” Mr. O’Higgins said in court.
Birmingham J. stated that, “in the general course of events,” the appellants had access to the transcripts of their trial, but the factor in this case was what happened to the documents afterwards.
The case was adjourned until July 1.
Last July, the DPP told the same court that it involved a crusade on behalf of Aaron Brady, who was convicted of murder after shooting Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe in Bellurgan, Co Louth, on Jan. 25, 2013, had released the transcripts and others. trial documents on social media, as well as “dubious” comments that may simply be contempt of court.
Brendan Grehan SC of the DPP asked the court to order that the transcripts released for Aaron Brady’s upcoming appeal be used for any other purpose.
Grehan said the DPP will share the transcripts with Aaron Brady’s legal team so the appeal can take a position as soon as possible.
He added that there was a “problem related to instances already posted on social media” and that the DPP was involved in activists on Brady’s behalf having promised in the past that trial transcripts “would be made for anyone who wants it. “”
He said the trial documents already posted on social media were accompanied by “comments of a dubious nature that in all likelihood could be contempt of court. “
O’Higgins said neither his consumer nor his lawyers would make the transcripts to give to anyone else.
Aaron Brady (31), whose last deal with New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, convicted of the murder of Det Gda Donohoe by an 11-to-one majority verdict in central criminal court on August 11, 2020.
The father of a child sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment.
After the defendant was convicted of the murder of a guard acting in the line of duty, the trial ruled that Judge Michael White ordered him to serve a minimum sentence of 40 years.
Aaron Brady was also sentenced to 14 years for the theft of €7,000, a sentence that will run along with life imprisonment, at Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgen, Co Louth, on January 25, 2013.
Aaron Brady appealed his conviction in October 2020.