"A man sentenced to death over the murder of an
Adelaide teenager in the 1970s has lost a High Court bid to overturn his
conviction. Mr Van Beelen, who is now in his 70s, served 17 years
in prison for murdering 15-year-old Deborah Joan Leach at Taperoo Beach
in Adelaide's north-west in July 1971. The prosecution case
against him was that between 4:10pm and no later than 4:30pm on July 15,
1951, Mr Van Beelen drowned the teenager in seawater by holding her
head under the water, then had sex with her dead body. After
exhausting all avenues of appeal, Van Beelen was able to launch his
latest appeal more than four decades later on the grounds of "fresh and
compelling" evidence under legislative amendments. His appeal was the first time the laws had been tested in the High Court. His
lawyers have argued flawed evidence presented at his trial by now
discredited forensic pathologist Dr Colin Manock about the time of the
teenager's death based on analysis of her stomach contents was
"unscientific" and cast doubt over the conviction. Mr Van Beelen
lost his bid to appeal his conviction in a South Australian Supreme
Court majority decision, and sought to have that ruling overturned in
the High Court. In a unanimous decision, the High Court has dismissed his appeal. : High Court: Appeal fair, but must be dismissed. But,
the court found that the evidence challenging Dr Manock's flawed
testimony did amount to compelling evidence, under the legislation. In their judgment, the five High Court
justices found that "it was an error to refuse permission to appeal" in
the South Australian Supreme Court. "The evidence meets the
criteria of being fresh and compelling and it is in the interests of
justice that it be considered on appeal," the High Court ruled. "Consideration
on appeal, however, does not disclose that there was a substantial
miscarriage of justice and so the appeal must be dismissed." The
High Court found that a jury could still have convicted Mr Van Beelen
without Dr Manock's testimony about the time of death, given his own
admission he was on the beach that afternoon. Mr Van Beelen
admitted to police that he arrived at the beach at about 4:00pm but left
by no later than 4:30pm to be in the city by 5:00pm when he picked up
his wife from work. Dr Manock estimated the teenager's time of death was mostly within that timeframe. Deborah
Leach was last seen alive about 4:00pm when she was seen running down a
track that led to the beach to walk her dog Susie. Body found buried in seaweed' Her mother then returned from work and saw
the dog playing alone in the seaweed about 4:50pm, then went looking for
her daughter but could not find her. Her body was found buried in seaweed on the beach in the early hours of the next morning. Analysis
of fibres found on her body was said to have matched the same style of
fibres on the jumper Mr Van Beelen was wearing that afternoon. Mr Van Beelen always denied coming into contact with Deborah Leach at all. "The
elimination of Dr Manock's opinion of the time of death leaves a window
of 20 minutes after the appellant left the beach and before Mrs Leach
saw Deborah's dog playing alone in which expert evidence does not
exclude the fatal assault taking place," the High Court said in its
judgment. "It does not, however, significantly reduce the
improbability of a second man, wearing a knitted garment made of red and
black woollen fibres in approximately the proportion of the red and
black woollen fibres of the appellant's jumper, being present on this
relatively deserted beach that afternoon. "The
majority in the Full Court were right to conclude that there is not a
significant possibility that a properly instructed jury, acting
reasonably, would have acquitted the appellant had Dr Manock's erroneous
opinion as to the time of death not been in evidence. "It
is open for him to apply to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of
South Australia for permission to bring a subsequent appeal pursuant to
s353A of the CLCA." His appeal is one of several to follow a
landmark ruling in the case of Henry Keogh, in which the Court of
Criminal Appeal found former chief forensic pathologist Dr Colin Manock
presented flawed evidence at Keogh's original trial. Mr Keogh was freed from prison in December 2014
after the court quashed his murder conviction, the first such ruling
under new legislation that allowed for new appeals on the grounds of
fresh and compelling evidence."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/c
