"Michael Pearce SC is the president of the Victorian Council of Civil Liberties.
He says Farah Jama's matter further strengthens the case for a national commission to investigate possible miscarriages of justice similar to that which exists in the UK.
MICHAEL PEARCE: I don't think that miscarriages of justice are a common or regular occurrence in our criminal justice system. But the criminal justice system is a human system, it's a system devised and implemented by human beings and therefore is subject to human error.
Not all of those errors are corrected by the normal appeal process and I can see a lot of merit for the creation of some body that stands outside the normal appeal process for people to go to where they genuinely believe that they have been a victim of a miscarriage of justice."
ABA AM;
PHOTO FARAH JAMA (LEFT);
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BACKGROUND: According to the Australian, Farah Jama was found guilty of raping a 40-year-old woman at a nightclub in Melbourne's outer-eastern suburbs after the victim was found unconscious. She had no memory of the crime but Mr Jama's DNA was later found on the victim. The then 20-year-old denied ever being near the nightclub on that night, saying he was reading the Koran to his critically ill father at his bedside in their home in the northern suburbs. The only evidence police had was the DNA sample of Mr Jama, which was coincidentally taken 24 hours before the alleged crime after he was investigated over another unrelated matter but not charged. Prosecutors told the Victoria Court of Appeal earlier this week that it had since been discovered that the same forensic medical officer who took the first DNA sample of Mr Jama had coincidently taken the DNA sample from the 40-year-old rape complainant 24 hours later. They said it had emerged that the officer had not adhered to strict procedure when taking the sample and therefore they could not “exclude the possibility” of contamination. Therefore they argued the guilty verdict was unsafe and satisfactory and should be quashed. His lawyer Kimani Adil Boden hailed a “momentous” day for Mr Jama, whose case he described as “tragic”. “He's been in custody for close to one-and-a-half years on charges he didn't commit. “Justice has finally been done, however, at a price.” Victoria's police chief responded to Mr. Jama's release by banning all forensic officers from submitting DNA evidence or providing statements to the courts until further notice.
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The ABC AM story, reported by Kellie Lazzaro, ran on Monday June 30, 2010, under the heading, "Lawyers say rape DNA mix-up strengthens case for national review body," as follows.
"TONY EASTLEY: Civil libertarians have welcomed a compensation payout for a Victorian man who was jailed for a crime he didn't commit.
The Victorian Government has awarded more than a half a million dollars to the man, who was found guilty of rape after a DNA mix-up.
Lawyers say the matter further strengthens the case for a national body to investigate possible miscarriages of justice.
Kellie Lazzaro reports.
KELLIE LAZZARO: Farah Jama was jailed for more than a year for a crime he didn't commit.
FARAH JAMA: Really bad, cannot imagine how I felt.
KELLIE LAZZARO: In 2008 the 22-year-old was found guilty of rape and that conviction was based solely on DNA evidence. But it was later discovered that there'd been a mix up with the DNA.
In a review of the case, retired Supreme Court judge Frank Vincent found that swabs taken from a woman allegedly sexually assaulted at a Melbourne nightclub were accidently contaminated in the laboratory with a sample of Mr Jama's DNA.
Yesterday his lawyer, Hina Pasha confirmed the Victorian Government has awarded her client $550,000 in compensation.
HINA PASHA: He's hoping that obviously there'll be some caution taken by the police in future cases and that it'll have an impact not just here in Victoria or Australia, but worldwide.
KELLIE LAZZARO: Lawyer Hina Pasha says Farah Jama now deserves a personal apology.
HINA PASHA: I think that it would make a profound difference if Mr Jama was to receive an apology and I would hope that that would be forthcoming very soon.
KELLIE LAZZARO: A spokeswoman for Victoria's Attorney General, Rob Hulls, says the Government has apologised publically to Mr Jama and that the Government had no legal obligation to compensate him, but believed it was the right thing to do.
Michael Pearce SC is the president of the Victorian Council of Civil Liberties.
He says Farah Jama's matter further strengthens the case for a national commission to investigate possible miscarriages of justice similar to that which exists in the UK.
MICHAEL PEARCE: I don't think that miscarriages of justice are a common or regular occurrence in our criminal justice system. But the criminal justice system is a human system, it's a system devised and implemented by human beings and therefore is subject to human error.
Not all of those errors are corrected by the normal appeal process and I can see a lot of merit for the creation of some body that stands outside the normal appeal process for people to go to where they genuinely believe that they have been a victim of a miscarriage of justice.
KELLIE LAZZARO: Farah Jama's family is considering legal action against the Victorian Government and Victoria Police for nervous shock suffered during the ordeal.
TONY EASTLEY: Kellie Lazzaro the reporter there."
The story can be found at:
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s2940684.htm
Harold Levy; hlevy15@gmail.com;
