NSW: Liati made hazy statement to meet Einfeld

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2009
NSW: Liati made hazy statement to meet Einfeld

By Katelyn John

SYDNEY, Feb 2 AAP - A woman gave a statement to police about an event she could hardly
remember because she wanted to meet former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld, a Sydney
court has heard.

Angela Liati, 55, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW District Court to making a false
statement on August 23, 2006 with intent to pervert the course of justice.

The jury was told Mr Einfeld claimed before a magistrate he had not been driving his
car on January 8, 2006, and an American friend was behind the wheel.

He later pleaded guilty to a number of charges laid against him.

In her 2006 statement, Liati said she was with Theahresa (Theahresa) Brennan - a friend
she had made on a meditation retreat in 2005 - in Mr Einfeld's car on that day.

She claimed the pair were in Sydney's north, shopping in Mosman, having lunch at Balmoral
and buying a pair of jeans in Chatswood.

Crown prosecutor Lou Lungo said this was a false statement, saying there was no record
of Liati or a Ms Brennan attending any meditation retreat.

He said credit card statements also showed Liati was at a surf shop in Bondi Junction
in Sydney's east at the time she claimed to be with Ms Brennan.

In her opening address to a NSW District Court jury on Monday, Liati - who is defending
herself - said the case against her contained "fundamental mistakes" made by the media,
police and some lawyers who acted "irresponsibly".

But she admitted she "was wrong on the date", saying she had not been accurate because
the lunch with Ms Brennan had been insignificant.

"When I had lunch with this lady it was not a really significant event in my life,"

Liati told the jury.

"I could not really remember the event.

"The purpose of writing down that statement was to convince the lawyers to let me speak
to Mr Einfeld."

Liati said while she did not know Mr Einfeld, she had served as a character witness
in a case when he was a barrister 30 years previously.

She told jurors she had been impressed with Mr Einfeld when she met him thinking: "I
might be speaking to the future prime minister."

But she said she felt no compunction to lie for him.

"I never, ever, ever spoke to Mr Einfeld ... I had no reason to help him," she said.

Mr Lungo said Liati had made her statement to protect Mr Einfeld from prosecution.

"The crown's case is the accused made her statement, and it was a false statement,
so the police wouldn't proceed with their prosecution," Mr Lungo said.

Judge Michael Finnane warned the jury to ignore Mr Einfeld's guilty plea and ignore
anything about his case when considering Liati's.

"Mr Einfeld is a very well known person in Australia," Judge Finnane said.

"His name is extremely well known, not just in legal circles. Consequently a lot of
interest was generated in the press."

Judge Finnane also warned the jurors they must not look up any information on Mr Einfeld
or Liati on the internet.

The trial will continue on Tuesday.

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