Lawyer: it's normal to pay for hotel for a Supreme Court Justice.
Criminal lawyer Roberto Podval (left) paid for Dias Toffoli's (right) daily expenses at his wedding party on the island of Capri in Italy; although he has had cases assigned to the Supreme Court Justice before, he sees nothing wrong or abnormal in the episode.
Criminal lawyer Roberto Podval declared yesterday that “there is no legal impediment” to the fact that Minister José Dias Toffoli, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), attended his wedding in Italy with hotel expenses paid by him. “I paid not only for him (Toffoli), but for 200 other friends I invited. The only thing I paid for was the hotel. Everyone, not just the minister, was entitled to two days at a hotel.”
Podval got married on June 21st on the island of Capri. The ceremony took place at the Capri Palace. “It’s not absurd to invite someone who has been my friend long before he became a minister. We’ve known each other for over 20 years. Obviously, my friends are from the same field I belong to, the legal world. The people I associate with are lawyers, prosecutors, judges, ministers. Those who know me know that I don’t do, and don’t know how to do, lobbying. It would be absurd to believe that I invited the minister with any interest in any particular cause.”
The lawyer informed that two cases in which he acts as defense counsel before the Supreme Federal Court (STF) were assigned to Toffoli. One concerns a habeas corpus petition for a businesswoman convicted in a case involving currency evasion. “Toffoli denied the request. The other case is an appeal; there is no decision on the merits. It's very naive to imagine that a minister who is a friend of mine and who attends my wedding party will rule in my favor based on that.”