Mercedes Corby 'stained by own words'
By Adam Bennett
May 26, 2008 12:12pm
A STRING of letters written by Mercedes Corby in which she repeatedly outlines her drug use discredits her as a witness, the New South Wales Supreme Court has been told.
Mercedes Corby is suing Channel 7 for defamation, saying she was falsely portrayed as a drug smuggler and dealer in interviews with her former friend Jodie Power, which were aired in February last year.
Tom Hughes QC, for Seven, today began his closing address to the jury, dismissing Ms Corby's credibility as a witness.
Mr Hughes told the jury letters Ms Corby wrote to Ms Power while she was working in Japan in 1993 and 1994 "nailed the lie" that she was an infrequent drug user.
In one letter before the court, she wrote: "Japan has the best mull, I only need two or three puffs of a joint and I am wasted".
In another letter, she refers to putting on weight and writes: "I think when I get home I might go on a speed diet".
In evidence, Ms Corby said she had probably only smoked half a joint while working in Japan, and had exaggerated her claims to show off to Ms Power.
"(Ms Corby said) her total consumption during the period when she was in Japan was no more than half a joint," Mr Hughes said.
"Can you possibly believe that after these enthusiastic statements about her enjoyment of marijuana and the quality of the product? (The letters) leave an indelible stain on the plaintiff's credibility as a witness.
"They make it clear that she lied by limiting her total consumption of marijuana in Japan to half a joint."
Mercedes Corby's sister Schapelle Corby is serving 20 years in a Bali prison after being convicted of smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis into Indonesia inside a bodyboard bag in 2004.
The hearing continues before Justice Carolyn Simpson.