The inspector responsible for a charge sheet error, which saw three policemen and a bouncer let off an assault charge, is being reviewed by the Police Board.
The charge sheet error was genuine
The police confirmed to The Times that they had referred the controversial case to the external board, which is tasked with considering disciplinary cases against police officers.
The news comes days after Justice Minister Chris Said called for charge sheet mistakes to be investigated to see whether they were made intentionally or due to human error.
Two weeks ago, three policemen and a nightclub bouncer were cleared of beating a French student in a Paceville bar in October 2009 because the wrong date and time appeared on the charge sheet.
Although the incident reportedly occurred at 3.30 a.m., the charge sheet filled in by the inspector in question listed 11 p.m. as the time of assault.
The discrepancy left the court with little option but to clear the four accused of the assault charge.
A public outcry ensued, with President George Abela also stepping in and calling for those found to have made the mistake to bear responsibility for it.
According to police sources, the inspector in question has told colleagues the charge sheet mistake was genuine and should not blemish his 25 years of good service with the corps.
However, the case has proven embarrassing for the police, especially as it comes in the wake of another clamorous mistake that saw ex-priest Godwin Scerri acquitted of raping a boy in his care for 20 years as the charge sheet listed the wrong place. His acquittal was confirmed last month.
In the latest case, the police said they would be filing fresh charges against the four accused. Sources in the corps argued this would not constitute double jeopardy, since the time difference would render it a completely new charge.
The Constitutional Court has already declared a similar move to constitute double jeopardy and, while there is an appeal against that judgment, several lawyers who spoke to The Times, constitutional expert Ian Refalo, think any such attempt would clearly constitute trying a person twice for the same crime.
He said: “The double jeopardy principle applies to the facts of the case. For a separate charge to stand, facts have to be different. Once the prosecution makes a mistake, it’s fatal.”
Police had also probed the mistake in the Godwin Scerri case and concluded that the mistake in the charge sheet had not been done intentionally. The inspector prosecuting has since retired from the police force.