In October 2012 snowball of deception [which] caused a Judge Constance Briscoe Judge Briscoe mighty avalanche many years later.” On Sentenced To 16 Months was arrested and May 1, 2014 a 12-person jury unanimously charged with found Judge Briscoe guilty of all three Imprisonment For Lying perverting the counts of perverting the course of justice. During Police Investigation course of justice Judge Constance Briscoe (The during the police Judge Jeremy Baker stated during Judge udge Constance Briscoe has been sen- Telegraph) investigation of Briscoe’s sentencing that she “considered Jtenced to 16 months in prison after her the 2003 inci- that respect for the law was for others,” and convictions of lying to the police and falsi- dent. The police obtained email and phone he said regarding her role in the 2003 speed- fying documents during a police investiga- records proving she was the source of the ing case media leaks: tion -- becoming the first British judge in media leaks about Huhne, which she had denied in her two official police statements “... you sought to hide your true motive several decades to be imprisoned for her and role in the exposure of that story. criminal activity. — the first in May 2011 and the second in October 2012. You then compounded your position by deliberately fabricating evidence when The convictions of Judge Briscoe, 56, were As a result of her prosecution Judge Briscoe you thought that you might be exposed. the result of her lying to the police investi- ... gating media leaks that were traced back to was suspended from the judiciary and as a barrister. I am sure that you realise only too well her concerning a speeding case in 2003 that that such conduct strikes at the heart of involved Christopher Huhne -- who served Judge Briscoe was charged with a two addi- our much cherished system of criminal as the UK’s Energy Secretary from 2010 justice, which is integral and invaluable until he was forced to resign in 2012 due to tional counts of perverting the course of justice after it was discovered she altered a to the good order of society. ... your the public scandal created by the media conduct not only involved deliberately leaks. copy of her second witness statement, which she then provided to a defense expert seeking to paint a false picture of your role and attitude for the purposes of In 2003 Huhne was a member of the Euro- who didn’t know his testimony during her trial was going to be enhancing your credibility in the Chris pean Parliament when he was issued a ticket Huhne and Vicky Pryce prosecution, but for speeding. His wife Vasiliki Pryce was a based on the fraudu- lent document. was compounded by the deliberate man- passenger in the car. If convicted Huhne ufacturing of evidence so as to avoid would have had his driver’s license sus- In February 2013 your own detection. The last of these pended for exceeding the maximum allow- deceptions taking place during the peri- able “speeding points,” so Pryce protected Chris Huhne, 58, pled guilty to perverting the od leading towards your own trial. In her husband by admitting guilt for the those circumstances, and having regard speeding offense he committed. course of justice, and his former wife Vicky to the principle of totality, I consider that the least sentence which can proper- Seven years later Huhne was the UK’s En- Pryce, 60, was con- Chris Huhne, after Judge Constance Bris- ly be passed upon you is one of 16 ergy Secretary when he left his wife Pryce victed by a jury in March 2013. They coe was convicted on months imprisonment.” for another woman, and the two divorced in May 1, 2014. 2011. Pryce wanted to retaliate against her were each sentenced to eight months imprisonment. Judge Briscoe is expected to be released on husband for ending the marriage by public- parole after eight months imprisonment. ly exposing what he had done in the 2003 speeding ticket case. Judge Briscoe was Judge Briscoe’s January 2014 trial in Lon- don’s Central Criminal Court ended in a Judge Briscoe’s pat- Pryce’s friend and neighbor, and she had tern of dishonest con- known about the speeding ticket incident mistrial because the jury couldn’t reach a verdict. duct over many years since 2003. To help Pryce in her revenge was exposed during scheme to destroy Huhne’s political career, During Judge Briscoe’s retrial that began in her trial, and in the Judge Briscoe agreed to leak the story to the press, including that press in emails and telephone calls. April 2014, the prosecution produced evi- dence that Huhne suspected from the begin- while visiting in Aus- tralia “she forged the The story developed ning she was the source of the media leaks. Huhne said during a recorded phone call signature of a friend, into a major scandal an Australian judge, so in England. Huhne with his then wife Pryce about the media she could skip a Carmen Briscoe-Mitch- resigned his Cabinet leaks: “The only person batty enough to go on this sort of vendetta is [Judge] Constance course, fly home and ell, the mother of Judge position in February collect an award” Constance Brisco. 2012 when he was [Briscoe].” There was also evidence a jour- nalist wrote to a colleague about the media charged with per- The Independent newspaper published a verting the course leaks he knew were from Judge Briscoe, that she “is determined to go for the kill. ... story that in 1999 — 15 years before Judge Vicky Pryce, the day before of justice related to she wants Huhne to get his comeuppance, Briscoe’s convictions — her mother filed a she began serving her 8 his wife pleading nine-page complaint with the UK’s Bar month prison sentence on guilty to the 2003 i.e., to lose his position as Energy Secretary March 11, 2013. (Daily Mail) ...” Council that “her daughter should be barred speeding ticket. from the profession because of dishonesty Ironically, Huhne’s former wife Pryce was and financial wrong-doing.” The complaint also charged for her role in the incident. Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema QC told the jury the 2003 speeding case was “a tiny Brisco cont. on page 7

JUSTICE DENIED: THE MAGAZINE FOR THE WRONGLY CONVICTED PAGE 6 ISSUE 59 - SPRING 2015 Brisco cont. from page 6 Canada, where Appeals Court Acquits Jan Luedecke re- asserted Judge Briscoe “forged the signa- Man Of Rape Who Expe- lied on it for his ture of a relative to obtain a council flat and acquittal of rape falsified information on a passport applica- riences Sexsomnia in Toronto in tion.” The Bar Council protected Judge 2005. Briscoe by dismissing the complaint with- ikael Halvarsson has been acquitted out conducting an investigation. Mof raping a woman who was sleeping Matthew Walker, in his bed by a Swedish Appeals Court. professor of neu- After Judge Briscoe’s conviction Huhne rology at the Na- told reporters Judge: “Constance Briscoe On the morning of April 2, 2014 a woman tional Hospital has been revealed as a compulsive liar and called the police in Sundsvall, Sweden and for Neurology self-publicising fantasist. ...the Bar, the reported that she had been raped. Sundsvall and Neurosur- Crown Prosecution Service and the judicia- is a city of 51,000 about 235 miles north of gery in London, ry went on entrusting her with responsibili- Stockholm. She told the police that she and has acted as an Sleepsex:Uncovered, by Michael ty for people’s lives because they were not Halvarsson were sleeping in the same bed expert witness in Mangan Ph.D. (Xlibris, 2001) prepared to blow the whistle on one of their under separate blankets when she woke up sexsomnia cases. own.” and found he was having sex with her. Professor Walker said about sexsomnia: When the police arrived Halvarsson was “The people I see are often couples and During Judge Briscoe’s trial the BBC pub- asleep, and when questioned he said he had usually both are very distressed. The person lished a story that Scotland Yard confirmed no recollection of having sex with his friend. doing it has no recollection of doing it, and a criminal investigation had been opened it’s usually not much fun for the person into allegations she committed fraud by Halvarsson was charged with rape, and based having it done to them. The sex is usually lying under oath and relying on forged doc- on his accuser’s testimony he was convicted. loveless and more aggressive.” uments to successfully defend in 2008 He was sentenced to two years in prison. against a defamation lawsuit brought After Halvarsson acquittal Dr. Kingman against her by her widowed mother Carmen Halvarsson appealed, arguing the prosecution Strohl — a professor of medicine and direc- Briscoe-Mitchell. Judge Briscoe’s mother failed to prove the essential element he had tor of research at the Sleep Center at Case alleged in her 2006 book “Ugly” that her the criminal intent to rape the woman because Medical Center in Cleveland — told ABC parents abused her as a child. Judge Briscoe he suffered from the medical condition of News about patients who report sexsomnia, relied on two medical documents to prove sexsomnia. Halvarsson presented expert evi- “Usually people are very scared and also the abuse denied by her mother and her dence that sexsomnia is a sleep disorder in quite confused as to what's going on.” siblings, but the doctor whose signature is which a person will unknowingly engage in on the documents told the BBC they are sexual activities while asleep about which It is estimated that as much as 1% of the fakes because he did not author or sign they have no memory when awakened. Sex- population suffer from “sexsomnia” or have either document. The lawsuit bankrupted somnia is considered a type of non-rapid eye seen it, and the Sun newspaper in London Judge Briscoe’s 80-year-old mother who movement sleep parasomnia that includes: published a story about a married couple told reporters after her daughter’s convic- Somnambulism (sleep walking); Somniloquy who have been battling the husband’s sex- tions that she is going to pursue having the (sleep talking); sleep eating; nightmares or somnia for five years. libel verdict overturned, which it is now night terrors; and sleep paralysis. Halvarsson known was based on fraudulent evidence also presented evidence from a previous girl- Information about sexsomnia (also known submitted by a convicted liar. friend that he had tried to have sex with her as “sleep sex”) is available at: while she was sleeping, and that he had acted Sources: confused when she stopped him and woke * Sleep Sex, Wikipedia.org Judge Constance Briscoe found guilty of lying to him up. In addition he presented evidence * www.sexsomnia.org police, The Guardian (London), May 1, 2014. from his mother that he had suffered from * www.sleepsex.org, founded by psy- Constance Briscoe guilty: High-flying barrister faces disturbed sleeping patterns in the past. chologist Dr. Michael Mangan. jail for lying in Chris Huhne speeding case, The Inde- * A book on the subject is Sleepsex: Uncov- pendent, May 1, 2014. ered, by Michael Mangan Ph.D. (Xlibris, R v Constance Briscoe, Sentencing Remarks by Judge Based on the evidence he had sex with the Jeremy Baker. woman due to sexsomnia and not his con- 2001), 108 pgs., that can be purchased from Judge accused of lying to police investigating Chris scious intention, the appeals court acquitted Amazon.com by clicking here. Huhne’s points swap case is facing a re-trial after the Halvarsson in September 2014. The ap- jury failed to reach verdict, Daily Mail (London), Source: January 31, 2014. peals court ruled the evidence supported Swedish court accepts ‘sexsomnia’ defence and ac- Constance Briscoe guilty, The Independent, May 1, that Halvarsson “was in a state of sleepi- quits man of rape, The Guardian (London), September 2014. ness, unconscious of what was happening.” 18, 2014 Constance Briscoe faces new criminal inquiry, The Swedish Man Acquitted of Rape Due to ‘Sexsom- Telegraph, May 1, 2014. Halvarsson’s acquittal is one of a growing nia’, ABC News, Sep 20, 2014 Constance Briscoe: ugly tale of the barrister who lied number of cases in which a man has been Are men getting away with rape by pretending they to police, The Guardian, May 1, 2014 cleared of sexual assault based on a sexsom- were asleep? Rising number of attackers are trying extraordinary defence that they had ‘sexsomnia’, Daily nia defense. Lack of conscious awareness Mail (London), December 28, 2012 while asleep has long been recognized as a Meet the sexsomniacs: Kelly and Stephen have battled valid medical defense to sexual assault in with condition which makes him have sex in his SLEEP England, where at least a dozen men have for five years, The Sun (London), January 27, 2012 been acquitted of rape since 1996 based on Sleep Sex, Wikipedia.org a sexsomnia defense. It is also recognized in

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