RELEASE: "A second chance for justice: The prosecutions of Gabe Watson for the death of Tina Thomas by Dr. Asher Flynn and Dr. Kate Fitz-Gibbon.
A Second Chance for Justice critically examines the legal responses to the death of Tina Thomas in October 2003, and the two subsequent prosecutions of her husband of eleven days, Gabe Watson, initially in Queensland, Australia in June 2009 (outcome: a negotiated guilty plea to manslaughter by criminal negligence) and then in Alabama, United States in February 2012 (outcome: judicial acquittal at the close of the prosecution’s case).
Co-writers and criminologists, Dr Asher Flynn from Monash University’s School of Political and Social Inquiry, and Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon from Deakin University, have drawn on extensive interviews with those intimately involved in the case, including members of the police, prosecution, defence counsel, and the victim and accused’s families, as well as court observations of the capital murder trial in Alabama and the magnitude of legal documents compiled in both jurisdictions from 2003-2012, to inform their analysis.
The Watson case provides a unique framework from which to examine perceptions of the attainability of justice. A Second Chance for Justice: The Prosecutions of Gabe Watson for the Death of Tina Thomas (2013, Cambridge Scholars Publishing: United Kingdom) provides a critical, qualitative analysis of the case across the Queensland and Alabama jurisdictions, and in particular, examines the many contentious legal decisions that were made in the almost nine year progression of this case, with a particular focus on the achievability of justice in the ever increasing resource-stricken climate in which criminal justice systems operate. The book is set within the context of external constraints that influenced the transnational investigation and prosecutions – including costs, delays, cultural differences and concerns pertaining to double jeopardy, dual sovereignty and jurisdiction. It is available for purchase online at: http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/A-Second-Chance-for-Justice–The-Prosecutions-of-Gabe-Watson-for-the-Death-of-Tina-Thomas1-4438-4202-8.htm, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.amazon.co.uk and selected bookstores.
http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/criminology/a-second-chance-for-justice-the-prosecutions-of-gabe-watson-for-the-death-of-tina-thomas-by-dr-asher-flynn-and-dr-kate-fitz-gibbon/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
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.
