Supreme Court judge rejects Garzón's evidence request

Judge Baltasar Garzón faced another legal setback on Thursday when the Supreme Court decided not to allow him to present further evidence in his defense in the case filed against him for allegedly ordering illegal phone taps of jailed graft case defendants speaking to their lawyers.

Supreme Court Judge Alberto Jorge Barreiro ruled that his investigation has "concluded its discovery phase" so therefore it is "not reasonable to widen the inquiry with new evidence."

The suspended High Court judge is facing trial on disciplinary charges for allegedly ordering the recording of conversations between some of the suspects at the center of a political kickbacks-for-contracts inquiry affecting the center-right Popular Party, known as the Gürtel case, speaking to their lawyers from jail. Garzón argues that some of the lawyers for the defendants were acting as messengers in a cover-up scheme.

Among the evidence Garzón wanted Barreiro to consider was the testimony of Madrid High Court Judge Antonio Pedreira, who is currently investigating the Gürtel case.

Barreiro has decided not to admit Pedreira's testimony during this phase because "it deals with evidence that is not essential or decisive." But the judge said that Garzón could present it during his trial.

The embattled High Court judge, who is now acting as a special advisor at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, faces two other disciplinary cases before the Spanish Supreme Court. Charges have been filed against him for allegedly overreaching his powers by opening an inquiry into Franco-related and Civil War-era crimes. In another case, Garzón is being investigated for allegedly asking for money from Banco Santander to sponsor a series of lectures at New York University while he was on leave from the High Court bench.