POST: Seek the culprits not convictions," published by Pursue Democracy", published on November 17, 2014. (A report by Andrew L. Urban on the Symposium on Miscarriages of Justice, held at Flinders
University, Adelaide, South Australia on Nov. 7 and 8, 2014.)
GIST: "Pursuing convictions at the expense of catching the actual culprits
of serious crimes, grave errors at trial by prosecutors and judges
alike, shocking failures of forensic evidence and a failure to learn
from historic cases (such as the wrongful Lindy Chamberlain conviction
30 years ago) are some of the issues that brought together Australia’s
pre-eminent lawyers and legal academics in the field (and international
guest Prof. Kent Roach from the University of Toronto), wanting to
improve Australia’s inadequate criminal appeals system and reduce the
number of innocents sent to jail for lengthy – unjust – sentences. “If the Australian public was aware that dozens of innocent people
are serving lengthy sentences for murders and rapes they didn’t commit –
and the real criminals are living free among us – we could expect
considerable outrage and demands that ‘something be done’,” suggests Dr
Robert Moles, co-author of Forensic Investigations and Miscarriages of
Justice (Irwin Law, 2010), the definitive book on Miscarriages of
Justice.........That ‘something’ is a range of reforms from simple to complex
(see below) that the symposium (which he instigated) explored in detail. Keynote speaker Professor Kent Roach, in comparing the Canadian and
Australian experience, said that “there was a greater acceptance of
wrongful convictions being a reality in Canada and while Australia is
starting to engage in reform, it is facing continued legal and political
struggles.” He also cited the Canadian example of “a certain judicial creativity
that created a precedent for bail pending a petition for mercy,” the
last resort in both countries at present for those who have exhausted
the standard appeals process. According to Civil Liberties Australia, at any one time “there are
probably 1000 prime agitators – lawyers, academics and students,
journalists and editors, film makers, playwrights, composers, artists,
family members and friends, scientists, civil rights activists. They are
fighting 50 or more current travesties of justice in Australia, where
an innocent person is in jail, or about to be, who shouldn’t be.” It is Flinders University itself that can claim some kudos for
supporting the only significant reform in criminal appeals procedures in
Australia, thanks to the work of senior lecturer Bibi Sangha and her
colleague Dr Moles, a former associate professor of law at the
University of Adelaide and latterly a dedicated scholar-warrior against
miscarriages of justice in Australia. Between them they persuaded the
South Australian Government to introduce a new statutory right of
appeal, which (in somewhat imperfect form*) was introduced in 2013 and
the appeal hearings in the first case using the new legislation, the 20
year old Henry Keogh case, had just concluded prior to the symposium;............The Keogh case contains within its entrails many of the elements that
are systemic to the flaws in too many criminal trials, most notably
shockingly false forensic evidence from WA’s former (1968 – 95) Senior
Forensic Pathologist Dr Colin Manock, an ‘expert’ witness who was never
qualified to perform this work, yet was instrumental in 400 convictions
over the years. If that is hard to believe, it is only one of many
factors that strain against credulity in this area of the law. Dr Moles presented a summary of the shocking history of Dr Manock and
his unchecked status as a reliable forensic witness in South Australian
criminal trials. Australia is not alone: forensic errors were evident in 63% of
exoneration cases in the US between 1997 and 2011, according to figures
from the Innocence Project (US) quoted by Professor Stephen Cordner of
the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. “There is no system to
action any criticism of forensic experts by judges,” he added. The
Innocence Project which had revealed a “staggering” number of wrongful
convictions and uses DNA evidence to exonerate prisoners -and sometimes
that leads to the conviction of the real offenders – has had
“significant impact on the US Congress.”........A perfect example of the combination of flawed forensic evidence and
judicial failure to recognize or correct it was given by Barbara Etter
APM, relating the case of Sue Neill-Fraser, serving a 23 year sentence
for the murder of her partner Bob Chappell. During the trial, the
prosecutor presented a slide showing the blue staining from luminol
testing as if it were proof of the presence of blood – confirmatory
tests of which had proved negative to blood. (This was one of several
aspects of the trial to have come under severe criticism in the past two
years, including a detailed deconstruction by Dr Moles.).........Bill Rowlings, Secretary of Civil Liberties Australia, and CLA Chair
Dr Kristine Klugman called for a strategic action plan to address the
reforms that the symposium highlighted. “We need a definition of what we
mean by a miscarriage of justice and then what can be measured. From
that we can deduce what we can teach the various actors and also
extrapolate from historic cases.” For Eve Ash, psychologist and filmmaker, “this is all too slow! The
system is bureaucratic and it’s horrifying how long innocent people
spend in jail; the drive is to convict, not to solve the crime, to blame
and to punish [someone] … it’s a pack mentality fuelled by gossip and
lazy or malicious media. As a business psychologist, I see it also in
corporate culture…” “Tunnel vision,” she added, “leads to cascading errors: we must respond with cascading reforms.” Ash, who made the awarded documentary, Shadow of Doubt (2013),
exposing the flawed police investigation and its aftermath in the case
of Sue Neill-Fraser, is producing Justice Hunters, a series of short
documentaries on the subject of miscarriages of justice, which will
include coverage of the symposium. “Each case of miscarriage needs a
full campaign, strong on communication, sticking to the facts, working
in unison with each supporting player. My aim would be to educate,
expose and engage…”Ash also suggested random audits of cases by law schools, and justice
investigation teams made up perhaps of three senior lawyers, to fast
track resolutions of miscarriages of justice. The second symposium on miscarriages of justice is scheduled for November 2015."
See the entire post at:
http://pursuedemocracy.com/2014/11/seek-the-culprits-not-convictions/
See compelling webpage on Eve Ash's compelling film on the Sue Neill-Fraser case "Shadow of Doubt." "Set in Hobart, this documentary follows one of the most intriguing and alarming legal cases in recent Australian history. Bob Chappell, radiation physicist, aged 65, was last
seen alive on Australia Day, 26 January 2009. In October 2010, his
partner of 18 years, Sue Neill-Fraser, was convicted of murder and
jailed for 26 years, later reduced to 23 years. This is the first time
someone has been jailed in Tasmania for murder based solely
on circumstantial evidence and without a body. Sue has always protested
her innocence, vehemently denying any involvement in Bob’s
disappearance.
There were no eye witnesses, no weapon, no plausible motive and Bob’s
body has never been found. No forensic evidence linked Sue to the crime
scene, Four Winds, the couple’s luxury 54’ yacht moored in the Derwent
River, Sandy Bay, Tasmania. On the day Bob disappeared he was working on
Four Winds. Sue had returned to shore in the couple’s dinghy… Bob
decided to keep working and stay on board overnight. Early the next
morning the yacht was found sabotaged, sinking and there was no sign of
Bob. The prosecution’s case was simple: On Australia Day Sue went back to
the yacht, struck Bob from behind with a wrench, returned late at night,
winched his body into a dinghy, sinking Bob with a big
fire extinguisher. Detective Inspector Peter Powell who headed the
investigation is convinced of Sue’s guilt. He doesn’t believe shock is
sufficient reason to tell lies and is satisfied the police investigation
was thorough and conclusive. Shadow of Doubt explores why the police accepted a dubious informant
and why they felt no need to investigate other persons of interest or
follow other leads. Barbara Etter APM, former Assistant Police
Commissioner and lawyer, identified many flaws in the case and new
evidence not investigated.
A prime suspect (a teenager) was never fully investigated by the
police. Her DNA was found on the yacht, but only matched to a name after
Sue was already in prison. A stranger who called Sue late on the night
Bob disappeared to warn that something bad would happen to Bob on board
the yacht was never fully investigated. Shadow of doubt follows Sue’s family and friends as they uncover
evidence to try and prove Sue is innocent. It will question the way this
crime was investigated, the witness problems, how the media was used to
shape perceptions, and the shocking mistakes and omissions. This powerful, compelling documentary will show ‘beyond reasonable
doubt’ that Sue Neill-Fraser was not the only person who could have
killed Bob Chappell."
http://shadowofdoubt.tv/
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;
