South Australia's new appeal laws: Will they spread to the rest of the country? (A very good question - especiallly after the disturbing revelations of the David Harold Eastman case. HL); Justice Michael Kirby has pointed out that if appeal courts examined a case and rejected it, then it was difficult to introduce new arguments on further appeal to the High Court. "The court has also repeatedly ruled that, under the constitution, it cannot receive new evidence (such as DNA evidence), no matter how persuasive and powerful that evidence might be."

STORY: "SA's (South Australia's)  new appeal laws may spread around the country," by reporter Julieanne Strachan published by The Canberra Times on June 7, 2014.

GIST: "South  Australia introduced historic reforms last year that granted prisoners a statutory right to appeal their convictions where there was fresh and compelling evidence. It was the most significant change to SA's criminal appeals laws in a century and was hailed by former Justice of the High Court of Australia Michael Kirby as a decision that should potentially be copied by other states and territories. Justice Kirby said in an opinion piece, published by Fairfax in May 2013, that experience had shown that errors could slip through the system. He said that if appeal courts examined a case and rejected it, then it was difficult to introduce new arguments on further appeal to the High Court. "The court has also repeatedly ruled that, under the constitution, it cannot receive new evidence (such as DNA evidence), no matter how persuasive and powerful that evidence might be,'' he said."'

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/sas-new-appeal-laws-may-spread-around-country-20140607-zs0qi.html?rand=1402143657069

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/charlessmith

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;