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EDITORIAL: "When commonsense went off with the dingoes." The Age. June 14, 2012."
GIST: "The Azaria Chamberlain case will undoubtedly go down in Australia's history as an episode in which mass hysteria and suspicion overtook normal judgment and rationality. That modern police techniques, including supposedly scientific forensic expertise, were lent to a prejudiced investigation and trial adds to the national shame.........That this forensic evidence was shown to be erroneous is an enormous lesson for us all. The testimony by the London Hospital Medical College's James Cameron that Azaria's jumpsuit showed signs of the baby's throat having been cut has been contradicted by later expert evidence about the power of a dingo's bite. The famous spray of ''foetal blood'' found in the Chamberlain's car by another forensic scientist turned out to be a chemical commonly used in automotive manufacture. Yet this conviction was allowed to stand even in an appeal to the High Court. It was only the chance discovery of another piece of Azaria's clothing in a known haunt of dingoes - during the search for the body of a tourist who fell from Uluru - that got Lindy Chamberlain released after three years in jail, and eventually some compensation for the couple's suffering and legal expenses."
The entire editorial can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
