Courts / Louth / Report
'Absolutely enormous' amount of material in Lisa Smith trial 'crashing' defence printers, court hears
Summary
In a Special Criminal Court hearing, the defence of former Defence Forces member Lisa Smith faced a massive volume of evidence. Ms Smith, 39, is charged under the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 for membership in ISIS from 28 October 2015 to 1 December 2019 and for financing terrorism by sending €800 via Western Union to a named man on 6 May 2015. Her barrister, Michael O'Higgins SC, informed the court that the State had prepared a verbatim transcript of interviews that exceeded 100 pages each, in addition to an "absolutely enormous" amount of disclosure. The defence struggled to download and print the material, with printers frequently crashing. O'Higgins applied for an adjournment to review the documents, which were given to the defence that morning. The court adjourned the matter to 15 November, with the 12‑week trial scheduled to begin in January. Ms Smith was excused from the brief hearing and from the 15 November hearing.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 'Absolutely enormous' amount of material in Lisa Smith trial 'crashing' defence printers, court hears. Charges or matters: an offence contrary to the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 for being a member of unlawful terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) between October 28, 2015 and December 1, 2019. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- October 28, 2015 Incident
- December 1, 2019 Incident
- May 6, 2015 Other
- November 15 Adjournment
- 2021-11-01 Publication
Case subjects
Accused
Charges: an offence contrary to the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 for being a member of unlawful terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) between October 28, 2015 and December 1, 2019 (Alleged Or Contested)
Outcome: Mr O'Higgins said that he would prefer the witness to be present in person but Mr Justice Hunt said: "Of course, but the whole point of this is that we are not in ideal circumstances." Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge David McHugh, adjourned the matter to November 15 with the 12-week trial due to begin in January.
Accused
Charges: an offence contrary to the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 for being a member of unlawful terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) between October 28, 2015 and December 1, 2019 (Alleged Or Contested)
Outcome: Mr O'Higgins said that he would prefer the witness to be present in person but Mr Justice Hunt said: "Of course, but the whole point of this is that we are not in ideal circumstances." Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge David McHugh, adjourned the matter to November 15 with the 12-week trial due to begin in January.
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