STORY: "Stafford calls for release of confidential report," by reporter Damian Bathersby, published by The Coffs Coast Advocate, on April 13, 2014.
GIST: "GRAHAM Stafford spent 15 years in jail for a crime he has always maintained he did not commit. But it appears he has no right to know why the police, and now Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, have decided not to continue pursuing him over the 1991 murder of Ipswich schoolgirl Leanne Holland. The answers, Mr Stafford says, lie in a "secret" report presented to Mr Bleijie by the Director of Public Prosecutions, a retired Supreme Court judge and a senior Queen's Counsel following more than 12 months of deliberations. The trio advised a new trial "would not be in the public interest". Based on that advice, Mr Bleijie announced on Friday that he would not proceed with an ex-officio indictment against Mr Stafford, who has lived in Mooloolaba since his release from jail in 2006.........Mr Stafford, 52, has called on Mr Bleijie to release the report that has led to the decision, believing it will provide answers to the baffling saga. "I think after everything I have been through I have a right to know what is in that report," he said. "I believe the public, which paid for the report, has a right to know. "If this investigation, which has apparently found there is no point pursuing me over this crime, was open and transparent, then why not stand by it and release the report?""
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/news/stafford-calls-for-release-of-report/2228236/
See the Wikipedia entry: "New evidence presented at appeal." "The following evidence was available and called to the court's attention in the 1997 appeal. Evidence demonstrating that Graham Stafford could not have committed the murder at the time when the Crown contended he had had the opportunity to do so was available to police at the time. This included transcripts of interviews with four separate witnesses and a shopping docket and car wash receipt showing incompatible times. Experts disputed that the blood evidence was consistent with the Crown's case due to the lack of a substantial amount of blood and the lack of a foul smell from the boot. Experts disputed that the blood evidence was consistent with the Crown's case due to the lack of a substantial amount of blood and the lack of a foul smell from the boot. The hair found on a sponge in Stafford's car boot was not found by the officer taking evidence. It was found during a laboratory examination after the sponge had been on the floor. The time of death based on the maggot's development was changed to Tuesday morning from the original Wednesday evening estimate due to an incorrect ambient temperature reading. Stafford was at work on the Tuesday. The trial judge referred to "large quantities of blood" around the house. This is inconsistent with the very small amount of blood found in the bathroom, which was consistent with ordinary household use. Several relevant pieces of information relating to the tyre tracks and the missing hammer were either not presented or were misrepresented during the trial. The type of tyre tracks found at the murder scene was also quite common." "Further developments." "A Brisbane Sunday Mail examination of the police investigation revealed that an Ipswich computer store worker provided information to the police about a man who had entered the store on the same day as Leanne's body was dumped in nearby bushland. The worker claimed that the man had been behaving in a peculiar manner and had blood stains on his hands and trousers when he entered the store. Furthermore, reports of Leanne having been seen alive on the day after the police allege she was murdered were ignored. A report of a vehicle other than Stafford's being sighted near the body was also ignored. Forensic scientist, Angela van Daal, gave evidence at trial that helped convict Stafford of the murder. She has since stated that the blood identified as Leanne's could have come from another family member. Although the frequency of the blood type matching anyone in the general population was only about one percent, the frequency among relatives is as high as 25 percent. Around the time of the murder, Leanne's brother Craig had slashed his hand in a pub fight and had bled freely in the family home, also Leanne had recently cut her foot and had walked through the house. It has also been revealed that another twelve-year-old girl was murdered less than one kilometre away from where Leanne Holland lived within thirteen days of Leanne's murder. The man who was charged with the second murder had been known to Leanne. Furthermore, daughters of a police informant in the Leanne Holland case have come forward claiming their father sexually abused them at the murder site, burnt them with cigarette lighters and showed them crime scene photographs of Leanne's body."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Stafford
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
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