Thursday, May 17, 2012

#McCann #Brooks #Leveson: Brooks Challenges A Report From The 'Daily Mail' Who Wrote A Hoax Story BUT Do Not Know The Source To Have Charges Against Her Dropped. LOL Cameron.

I refer to this article from the Daily Mail.

http://themurdochempireanditsnestofvipers.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/leveson-pressreform-media-yet-to.html


Rebekah Brooks could challenge charging decision because prosecutor was victim of tabloid sting.Rebekah Brooks is considering challenging the decision to press charges against her on the grounds that the Crown Prosecution Service QC who took the decision was once the victim of a tabloid sting.

Alison Levitt QC, the principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer, announced on Tuesday that Mrs Brooks, an ex-editor of the defunct News of the World and The Sun, will face charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over the phone hacking scandal.

However, Mrs Brooks’ legal team are now examining whether Ms Levitt’s decision might have been influenced by the fact that five years ago tabloid newspapers, including the News of the World, reported on her affair with a peer.
A source close to Mrs Brooks, the former chief executive of News International said: “It is being reviewed by her legal team. She is looking at judicial review.”
Mrs Brooks’ solicitors at law firm Kingsley Napley, together with a QC, want to test whether this experience gave Ms Levitt a “jaundiced view of the tabloid press”, and so, played a part in her decision to charge Mrs Brooks.
If this can be proved to be the case, they are likely to argue, that she should have “recused” herself from any charging decision. It could also mean the CPS will have to re-examine the charges.

Mrs Brooks’ legal team are also trying to establish whether “she took the decision herself or sought external legal counsel”, according to sources. If she took the decision without outside advice it could make a challenge more likely.

During the cash for honours affair, Lord MacDonald of River Glaven QC, who at the time was DPP, said he would take no part in the case because he was a former colleague of the Prime Minister’s wife, Cherie.

Mrs Brooks challenge rests on a report from January 2007 in the Mail on Sunday which reported that Ms Levitt was having an affair with Lord Carlile of Berriew, the then-Government anti-terror adviser.

The story was also picked up in later editions of the News of the World. Mrs Brooks was editing The Sun at the time.

Last night the CPS said Ms Levitt took the charging decisions after advice from a team of four experienced lawyers, which she led. The decision was not referred to an external QC – although there was nothing unusual in that, a source said.

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, described Ms Levitt as a "distinguished and highly respected QC".

He told The Daily Telegraph: “It is preposterous to question the judgement of my principal legal adviser of my Principal Legal Advisor, Alison Levitt QC, on the basis that five years ago the News of the World wrote three sentences about her private life, repeating what had been reported elsewhere and which had been, in any event, common knowledge for a year.

“Alison Levitt QC was not even aware that the News of the World had written anything about her until it was drawn to her attention yesterday. She is a distinguished and highly respected QC.

A spokesman for Mrs Brooks declined to comment. However, speaking on Tuesday, Mrs Brooks said she was “baffled” by the decision to charge her.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9273276/Phone-hacking-Rebekah-Brooks-could-challenge-charging-decision-because-prosecutor-was-victim-of-tabloid-sting.html