STORY: "Bob Chappell murder: "Lawyer flags 'errors' in Susan Neill-Fraser's trial," published by ABC News on August 20, 2014.
GIST: A lawyer who specializes in miscarriages of justice claims he can identify four errors in the murder trial of Hobart woman Susan Neill-Fraser that warrant review. South Australian lawyer and researcher Dr Rob Moles has joined the campaign to overturn Neill-Fraser's conviction for murdering her partner Bob Chappell on their yacht five years ago. Neill-Fraser is serving a 23-year sentence and intervention by Tasmania's Attorney-General is her only hope after two attempts to have the conviction overturned failed. Her husband's body has never been found and Neill-Fraser's supporters continue to maintain she is innocent......... Supporters want Attorney-General Vanessa Goodwin to send the matter to the Court of Criminal Appeal. After studying the case for several months, Dr Moles said he had identified what he believed were four errors made at the trial that could warrant the conviction being overturned. "Forensic evidence, for example, involved an initial screening test as if they were confirmatory evidence of the presence of blood and that was a mistake," he said. "And it's the type of mistake that was made in the IRA bombing cases in England in the 1990s and also in the case of Lindy Chamberlain in Australia. "We're quite confident that if we have the chance to speak to people in forensic services and with the DPP office that we can avoid the normal adversarial aspects of these cases at this stage and develop a joint approach to the Attorney-General."
The entire story can be found at: GIST: A lawyer who specializes in miscarriages of justice claims he can identify four errors in the murder trial of Hobart woman Susan Neill-Fraser that warrant review. South Australian lawyer and researcher Dr Rob Moles has joined the campaign to overturn Neill-Fraser's conviction for murdering her partner Bob Chappell on their yacht five years ago. Neill-Fraser is serving a 23-year sentence and intervention by Tasmania's Attorney-General is her only hope after two attempts to have the conviction overturned failed. Her husband's body has never been found and Neill-Fraser's supporters continue to maintain she is innocent......... Supporters want Attorney-General Vanessa Goodwin to send the matter to the Court of Criminal Appeal. After studying the case for several months, Dr Moles said he had identified what he believed were four errors made at the trial that could warrant the conviction being overturned. "Forensic evidence, for example, involved an initial screening test as if they were confirmatory evidence of the presence of blood and that was a mistake," he said. "And it's the type of mistake that was made in the IRA bombing cases in England in the 1990s and also in the case of Lindy Chamberlain in Australia. "We're quite confident that if we have the chance to speak to people in forensic services and with the DPP office that we can avoid the normal adversarial aspects of these cases at this stage and develop a joint approach to the Attorney-General."
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24761202/bob-chappell-murder-lawyer-flags-errors-in-susan-neill-fraser-trial/
See related story on mounting pressure for a review of Susan Neill-Fraser's conviction: "Neill-Fraser's lawyer, Barbara Etter, said a forensic investigation in Victoria had found new DNA evidence on Mr Chappell's yacht. "I think this new report on the DNA is a dramatic development, and one that should seriously concern those who administer justice in this state," he said. "Something needs to be done urgently to address what is a serious concern, a serious flaw, and this is a flaw that went through the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeal, and even to the High Court." Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie has urged Tasmania's Attorney-General to order an immediate review, claiming the murder conviction had made Tasmania a laughing stock amongst Australia's legal profession. Mr Wilkie said the State Government should act now, given experts had raised doubts about the use of DNA evidence and a blood screening test. If they are that sure then they should have nothing to fear from this being revisited. Mr Wilkie said the state was being laughed at regarding blood testing methods.
"If the people who are so sure of Neill-Fraser's guilt, if they are that sure, then they should have nothing to fear from this being revisited and for those including myself who think there are too many questions over the conviction, then we can have those questions answered," he said.""
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-25/supporters-of-convicted-murderer-susan-neill-fraser-push-for-ur/5694952
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;
