Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Susan Neill-Fraser: Australia: Another extraordinary revelation: Sydney Morning Herald exposes an explosive file (called 'the white paper') which revealed that a potential teenage witness to one of Tasmania's most notorious crimes had signed a statutory declaration which casts doubt on Neill-Fraser who has spent the past seven years behind bars for her partner's murder." The story, by reporters Nick McKenzie, Nino Bucci and Richard Baker, runs under the heading: "Secret file could prove yacht killer's innocence. Could the Tasmanian and prosecution establishment police be systematically sabotaging evidence which could clear her by criminally charging witnesses who back her up? (This fascinating case case is truly heating up. HL)..."Mr Richter's white paper suggests Chappell was killed when he disturbed Vass and other vagrants, who had boarded the Four Winds planning to steal from it. The dossier names two men with extensive criminal records who may be involved in the murder. Neill-Fraser has maintained her innocence, but was convicted by a jury in 2010, a finding later upheld on appeal. It is the biggest legal story in Tasmania. And Richter, an intense, bearded QC regarded as one of Australia's finest and most forensic trial advocates, had travelled to Hobart to tell the Premier that police may have got it terribly wrong. The 25-page white paper contained an extract from a secret statutory declaration made by Vass a week earlier in which she admitted to being on the yacht the night Chappell disappeared."..."The arrests have plunged the small state's criminal justice system into the spotlight and led to claim and counterclaim of cover-ups and witness intimidation."
STORY: "Death on the Derwent: Secret file could prove yacht killer's innocence," by reporters Nick McKenzie, Nino Bucci, and Richard Baker, published by The Sydney Morning Herald on August 22, 2017.
SUB-HEADING: "On May 11, Victoria's leading criminal barrister, Robert Richter QC, met with Tasmania's premier, Will Hodgman and handed him a confidential dossier known as the "white paper". The explosive file revealed that a potential teenage witness to one of Tasmania's most notorious crimes had signed a statutory declaration which casts doubt on the conviction of a woman who has spent the past seven years behind bars for her partner's murder."
GIST: "On the night of Australia Day 2009, Bob Chappell, a pillar of the local community, disappeared from the deck of the Four Winds, a yacht moored off the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay. Chappell's partner, Sue Neill-Fraser, is serving a 23-year sentence for his murder. Police say she bludgeoned him to death, winched his body onto its deck, and disposed of it into the dark depths of the Derwent." Meaghan Vass's DNA was found on the Four Winds, but in court she swore she had never boarded the boat. Mr Richter's white paper suggests Chappell was killed when he disturbed Vass and other vagrants, who had boarded the Four Winds planning to steal from it. The dossier names two men with extensive criminal records who may be involved in the murder. Neill-Fraser has maintained her innocence, but was convicted by a jury in 2010, a finding later upheld on appeal. It is the biggest legal story in Tasmania. And Richter, an intense, bearded QC regarded as one of Australia's finest and most forensic trial advocates, had travelled to Hobart to tell the Premier that police may have got it terribly wrong. The 25-page white paper contained an extract from a secret statutory declaration made by Vass a week earlier in which she admitted to being on the yacht the night Chappell disappeared. Along with other information detailed in the white paper, Richter believed Hodgman would be forced to consider an independent inquiry. Despite years of intense media scrutiny of the case, the contents of the white paper have been a tightly held secret. Richter requested that Hodgman and the others in the room – Tasmania's acting attorney-general Matthew Groom and the solicitor-general Michael O'Farrell SC – not pass it to the Tasmanian police. Hodgman and Groom declined to read the white paper but agreed that O'Farrell should review it. Richter flew back to Melbourne and waited for a reaction. It came this month, although not in the manner Richter expected. Witnesses named in the white paper who helped compile or corroborate aspects of Vass's statement – her associate Karen Keefe, a lawyer Jeff Thompson, and another man who must remain anonymous, Witness X – have all been arrested by Tasmanian police and charged with perverting the course of justice. The police allege they have concocted or coerced evidence to clear Neill-Fraser and support Vass's statutory declaration. The arrests have plunged the small state's criminal justice system into the spotlight and led to claim and counterclaim of cover-ups and witness intimidation.........Independent inquiry: Despite their obvious credibility problems and the fact their statements have not been verified in any forensic setting, Vass, Witness X and Keefe's comments, combined with the fact of Vass's DNA on the deck of the Four Winds, were enough for Richter to urge the Premier to commission an independent inquiry. Such an inquiry could have the ability to compel witnesses, including Vass, to testify about what they knew about the case. It could also examine allegations made by Witness X that he was told by detectives he would be charged with historic offences if he co-operated with Neill-Fraser's legal team. While Richter's team also hopes the evidence in the white paper may form the foundation of Neill-Fraser's last-ditch legal appeal in the Supreme Court (the appeal has been adjourned indefinitely but could be held as early as October), an inquiry would be able to find and test the white paper evidence in a manner unconstrained by court procedure. The Tasmanian police, though, had other ideas. ..........Series of arrests: The police activity in the past month suggests the potential evidence Richter hoped would prompt Hodgman into action has instead been used by Tasmanian detectives to make a series of arrests. According to a source working with Richter, rather than being used to outline a case to clear Neill-Fraser, the contents of the white paper has instead been used to demolish it......... But the fight over the white paper may only be starting. Sources have told Fairfax Media that on Wednesday, two other members of Neill-Fraser's legal team, respected criminal defence lawyer Paul Galbally and Tom Percy QC, may flag with the Tasmanian Supreme Court the question of whether police or senior Tasmanian officials are in contempt of court by authorising the charging of the white paper witnesses.Neill-Fraser's appeal is set down for a mention in Hobart. Barrister and Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns, who practices in Melbourne and Hobart and gave some early advice to Neill-Fraser in 2009, says Tasmania's criminal justice system is itself on trial. "The test of the robustness and integrity of any justice system, including that of Tasmania, is how it deals with hard cases such as those in which it is alleged there has been a wrongful conviction," he says.
