Victorian Magistrate Rodney Higgins: Fears over claims of advice on sentencing from young fiancee
heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/fears-lovestru...
heraldsun.com.auPosted Oct 9, 2019, 10:02 PM UTC
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heraldsun.com.auWhen asked about allegations she influenced Mr Higgins, she refused to comment but did not deny them.
When told the Herald Sun would be printing the allegations, Ms Petrie replied only: “Okay.”
Outgoing chief magistrate Peter Lauritsen also refused to be drawn on the serious allegations, issuing a no comment response to questions for the second day in a row.
He also refused to comment when asked about a complaint made by a senior magistrate about Ms Petrie’s conduct.
I don't know why, but this shit is rage inducing. Journalists at pains to make sure we draw an unfavourable inference from their refusal to speak to them. I hate it.
Edit: obviously, this is a bad situation. Who knows their personal circumstances, but in my opinion, both have shown exceptionally poor judgment. Unsurprising for a 23 year old law clerk. Somewhat surprising with someone we trust with Magesterial power. I draw no inference about his legal ability. But, really, come on man.
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This is a fun story because it allows everyone to discuss their prejudices openly.
If she was 17 years older, this would be a non story. Everyone gives advice to their partners about their job. So what if there is an age gap, we all need to get our heads out of their bedroom.
The only interesting thing about this post is the fact that Heraldsun thinks it's ok to scandalise the court. This isn't news, it's gossip. I strongly hope people don't continue to fan those flames because we never know who's bedroom they will go after next.
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There is at least one associate-judge couple that I know of, which has never attracted adverse media comment.
I find it interesting that the thrust of the initial article was the concern at the power influence the magi had over the clerk, yet here the suggestion is that she has improper influence over him.
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Focus group probably said the Herald Sun's audience wasn't that worried about men in power taking advantage of young women in the workplace but was champing at the bit for an excuse to call a woman a bitch and a slut again.
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Internal legal advice probably said anything that could even remotely be read as implying a sitting Magistrate is corrupt is playing with fire and this whole contempt of court thing is jail time if you piss the court off badly enough.
The blonde slut with her tits on display while at the beach though, I of course can only recommend you refer to our official policy on not making shit up but hypothetically if you accideliberatly did happen to publish indefensible bullshit the Calderbank offer is already drafted and it's going to be $5,000 out of your legal budget.
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I'm actually pretty curious as to how this story plays out if the genders were reversed and/or their preferred holiday destination was the snow and the photos contained zero flesh.
Actually, watch them bend over backwards to spin a feel good story out of it if one of them happened to be in a wheelchair regardless of all the other facts being exactly the same.
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Id be curious to see how the papers would act if it was a gay relationship with the same age gap and sexy beach photos. I dont think the papers would as confortable to be so casually invasive.
For me the headline should really be "Guy who should know better has ongoing sex with ambitious young thot, commence outrage!"
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Steve, I need you to investigate whether or not either of them have been within 50km of a known gay hangout. Bill, go find a bunch of Kirby quotes we can take totally out of context. If you can't find anything search for shit Penny Wong has said. Mike, let everyone know there is a slab in it for whoever can come up with the best double entendre headline involving the words 'Magistrate' and 'Toy-Boy'. Barry, you can write it, do one of those beatups that on paper is a puff piece legal won't crack the shits about but will generate a fuckload of outrage
But what about me boss?
Oh sorry Sally, didn't realize you were in the room. If you could be a sweatheart and get the coffees while the men get the hard work done that would be brilliant love.
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Article Text:
The 23-year-old court clerk engaged to a Victorian magistrate in his 60s described him as “too soft” on criminals and boasted of helping him decide sentences, a senior lawyer claims among damning allegations.
The judicial integrity of magistrate Rodney Higgins has been called into question amid damning allegations he took legal advice from his young fiancee.
Senior lawyers have told the Herald Sun they became increasingly concerned about appearing before Mr Higgins because of fears he was being unduly influenced by 23-year-old court clerk Ashleigh Petrie, now his fiancee, when they worked together in regional Victoria.
One senior lawyer said Ms Petrie boasted about helping Mr Higgins decide on sentences generally, saying she described the magistrate as “too soft”.
The lawyer said the clerk attended a legal conference in Bali with Mr Higgins and bragged she encouraged her partner to come down harder on people who appeared before him.
The incident, in June, allegedly sparked an angry response from a senior criminal barrister that led to a physical altercation between the pair that was seen by some of Melbourne’s top legal figures.
The Bali Conference is an annual legal event that has attracted keynote speakers including former High Court justice Michael Kirby, Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry, and prominent barristers Julian Burnside, QC, and Robert Richter, QC.
But she went to ground on Wednesday after the Herald Sun revealed concerns among Melbourne’s legal fraternity about her recent engagement to Mr Higgins, who is more than 40 years her senior.
When asked about allegations she influenced Mr Higgins, she refused to comment but did not deny them.
When told the Herald Sun would be printing the allegations, Ms Petrie replied only: “Okay.”
Outgoing chief magistrate Peter Lauritsen also refused to be drawn on the serious allegations, issuing a no comment response to questions for the second day in a row.
He also refused to comment when asked about a complaint made by a senior magistrate about Ms Petrie’s conduct.
Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said it was a matter for the magistrates’ court.
“The advice I’ve been provided is there haven’t been any rules broken,” she said.
“I’m not in the habit of commenting on people’s personal lives.”
But Opposition spokesman Ed O’Donohue said the matter needed to be urgently addressed. “It’s disappointing that it is diverting attention from the many challenges confronting Victoria’s courts and justice system,” he said.
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When asked about allegations she influenced Mr Higgins, she refused to comment but did not deny them.
When told the Herald Sun would be printing the allegations, Ms Petrie replied only: “Okay.”
I wonder if they would be brave enough to pretty blatantly directly imply a "no comment" to be an admission if somebody was accused of something more serious like rape and there were both realistic prospects of having to defend a defamation claim in court and serous consequences in losing.
This is a dream story to sensationalise the fuck out of. Low prospects of actually being sued, plenty of mud to be thrown around if anything did actually come off it, and this landing in court would sell a fuckload of newspapers and be wildly profitable even if they lost and had to make a payout.
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This could hardly be the first judicial officer who has, effectively, delegated decision making to junior staff.
Obviously the circumstances are a bit whack here.
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There is a huge difference between a Supreme or Federal Court judge delegating (and supervising!) decisionmaking or judgment drafting, and a Local Court clerk egging on a magistrate to give harsher sentences.
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I mean... is there really?
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I'm with you, as if every associate doesn't share their opinion with their Judge, Member, Magistrate, Commissioner. At least, I hope they do. 😅
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She’s kept her insta on public, it’s asking for trouble
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Both her employer and about 50 journalists already have presumably already downloaded her full profile, so what more does she have to hide? Provided she keeps her social media pretty vanilla, what damage can come from keeping it public.
Besides, why should she bullied by the media into hiding it? Plainly she has no problem with people knowing who she is engaged to, and if she had anything more to hide beyond that the Hun would already have published it.
I'm also curious whether outright ignoring the media is textbook media handling in this situation. Its something which will blow over, and going private is asking to be spun into another bullshit story about how they have gone into hiding.
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Same warning as last time - please don’t turn this thread into a dumpster fire.
I will delete without further warning any comment that scandalises the judiciary or smells like something that would be a professional conduct concern.
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I see they’ve decided not to give CM Lauritsen an easy ride into retirement over at the Herald Sun
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The media really stuffed up this time. Worst piece of news I have ever seen. The journalists that sit in court would have an idea about the sentencing process. I seriously doubt that he was ever influenced because of the rules and code of conduct in place. I doubt an experienced magistrate would jeapordise his career.
Here's to the many sleepless nights that these journos will have now that Ms petrie has passed.
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his girlfriend has a Gucci handbag...he seems like a criminal!
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Regardless of one’s views about this relationship, the Herald Sun’s handling of this story has been reprehensible. The tactic they’ve employed (dripping bits of information over the course of the week) was obviously calculated to inflict maximum damage to their target.
That is unfortunately how tabloids roll. I was initially sympathetic to this view until I read this particular article. If it is true that she:
then this is the most stupendously moronic thing I have ever seen. If you are dating a judicial officer, do it with some discretion and decorum.
Seems like some disgruntled people have decided to air out sensationalised crap about him. Even if it is accurate that she encouraged him to be ‘harder’ on accused people, the article is silent as to whether he complied with the directive. It is uncontroversial that judicial officers have partners and that those partners have views. Of course they discuss work, who the fuck doesn’t do this with their partner?
Of course people speak about work with their intimate partners, and of course a magistrate is probably smart enough not to be that easily influenced. But the problem is one of perception, especially in a court which is so frequently hounded by tabloids and shockjocks. It can tend to undermine confidence in the administration of justice. Even if the overall effect is negligible because tabloids and shockjocks will always find something to hound them about, it still seems like it’s in exceptionally poor taste.
Completely agree that there’s a risk that this could undermine the perception of the court, but I just think we need to have more faith in society. Surely they’re not dumb enough to blindly subscribe to whatever HS and other rags spit out. As oppressive as this sounds, I think this country would be better off without the privately owned media. Let’s fuck them all off and rely on the ABC with a strict prohibition against opinion pieces.
To add to the...reprehensibility (?), the print article has a bright blue box under the article - DO YOU KNOW MORE? CONTACT SHANNON DEERY.
It’s an open invitation to submit scungy gossip.
Yes, it's a News Corp tabloid, they do that, because they are the scum of the earth and a major negative influence on society. That's a given though.
Triple M were having a field day repeating this stuff and getting their own dodgy puns in on breakfast radio this morning. "She is under him... at the court; she wants him to go harder.... on criminals. Sorry, I'll rephrase, she is in favour of longer... sentences from him." etc
It'll blow over, but as always sexual relationships in a workplace involving a serious power imbalance like this are always fraught with the potential for controversy and they would be well advised to make arrangements to work separately as surely it is going to be impossible to avoid suggestions of favouritism and it may be difficult for her to exercise enough discretion to avoid, well, being accused of improperly influencing his decisions among other things.
Gee
How surprising.
I can't imagine the Herald Sun would employ these sort of tactics.
^(/sarcasm)