The Snitch: DPP to pay $250k legal costs to casino junket operator Xiongming Xie
The prosecution of high-rolling casino junket operator Xiongming Xie has failed and the DPP has been ordered to pay Xie’s $250,000 legal costs.
Police & Courts
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The prosecution of high-rolling casino junket operator Xiongming Xie was a gamble that has backfired spectacularly.
Xie was accused of holding one of his customers — who borrowed $2 million to use at The Star — at knifepoint and was charged with a range of other offences, including kidnapping.
But the pursuit has prove a costly one, with the last of Xie’s charges failing and the Chinese gambling agent being awarded a massive costs order in the Downing Centre Local Court.
On Thursday, Magistrate Jennifer Giles ordered the DPP to pay an eye-watering $250,000 in legal costs.
In plain English, this means the DPP lost the case so badly that they were ordered to pay for the lawyers of Xie and his co-accused.
In Xie’s case, he hired top barristers Winston Terracini SC and Brian Murray, whose services ran to about $187,000 for the case. The balance was made up of Xie’s co-accused, who were represented by Legal Aid.
Xie spent eight months behind bars with his bail refused, and Mr Terracini said his client was now considering a wrongful imprisonment case.
Mr Terracini told the court the prosecution “from the beginning was incompetent, inept, misguided and showed little concern for the rights and protections of the people involved.” Ouch.
BURROWS v HOUDA
Solicitor Adam Houda has won the latest skirmish in his defamation battle against fellow lawyer Zali Burrows.
In the Sydney District Court this week, Judge Judith Gibson dismissed an application by Ms Burrows to strike out 102 paragraphs of his defence statement.
Ms Burrows sued Mr Houda over two tweets. He is defending the action.
Mr Houda retweeted a news article that was critical of Ms Burrows.
It is also believed to be the first defamation case that has considered the question of whether an emoji can be defamatory. Mr Houda posted an emoji with zipper covering its mouth, the court heard.
Got a snitch? Contact ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or brenden.hills@news.com.au
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