(Washington Insider Magazine) -The special criminal court will rule on Friday whether tapes played as evidence in the Gerard Hutch trial will be admissible.
The 59-year-old Gerard Hutch has pleaded not guilty to the murder of David Byrne in Dublin after being secretly recorded in a journey to Northern Ireland with former Sinn Fein lawyer Jonathan Dowdall.
Gerard Hutch’s defense objected to the admission of the almost 8 hours of Gerard Hutch tapes, arguing that the vehicle the pair were traveling in was in Northern Ireland on the day of the surveillance and was outside the Republic of Ireland and should be used as evidence.
The Special Criminal Court was also told that the murder of David Byrne was carried out execution-style as part of a Hutch-Kinahan gang feud.
A lead justice on the case confirmed that both sides of the case are satisfied with their arguments. However, there may be more evidence released from conversations heard on a garda bugging device, should the court allow.
Is the latest Gerard Hutch information permissible?
Last Friday, defense lawyers of Gerard Hutch argued that permission to deploy the bugging device was illegal.
However, Sean Gillane SC, the director of public prosecution, argued that the Gerard Hutch tapes should be admissible into evidence.
He argued that a bugging device is an item used within the state and the data recovered within the state.
He added that Dowdall’s car crossed the border at 15:12 GMT, on the 7th March and back into the Republic of Ireland at 22:50 GMT that same night.
Retired Detective Superintendent William Johnston, former head of the National Surveillance Unit(NSU) told the court that he sought authorisation to the court on 17 February 2016 to bug Dowdall’s car.
But Gerard Hutch’s defense said that Johnston was reluctant to admit whether the ACT allowed the Irish police to carry out the surveillance outside the state.
Meanwhile, Dowdall, who was also due to stand trial for the murder of David Byrne, pleaded guilty for a lesser charge for providing the hotel room where the murder took place.
He is serving a four year prison sentence.
The case continues.