PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Memory and justice: Peddie’s play highlights the vital role of memory in the execution of the law. Neill-Fraser’s memory let her down and lead her down the path to conviction. At one stage she tells the court, “I didn’t think it was important,” (to remember), summing up in a nutshell one of the most critical issues in the administration of justice. Courts and juries expect witnesses and the accused to recall with precision their actions in the past, which have become important now, in the wake of the event. Where did you park your car on June 5 last year may be important now, but on June 5 last year it may not have been at all memorable. This reliance on the most fallible of human functions in such potentially life altering circumstances is a matter of considerable importance."
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COMMENTARY: "Sue Neill-Fraser’s final appeal – Part 1," by Andrew L. Urban, published on his illuminating Blog 'Pursue Democracy' on November 4, 2017.
After Coates made a sustained effort to undermine the DNA evidence as
being “out of proportion” in the case, Percy took the opportunity to
rise and tell the court about that extraordinary exchange during the
trial between the trial judge and the two counsel:
CT 1486 HIS HONOUR, COUNSEL, JURY ABSENT – SUBMISSIONS, PRIOR TO SUMMING UP, 13/10/2010
MR ELLIS SC: … it was attributed to me that I said it was Mr Chappell’s blood in the dinghy. Now I don’t believe I did.
MR GUNSON SC: Yes, you did.
MR ELLIS SC: Okay – I don’t know why I’d say it
HIS HONOUR: – Well – –
MR ELLIS SC: – because I’ve never believed it.
HIS HONOUR: In opening.
MR GUNSON SC: Yeah.
MR ELLIS SC: Oh in opening –
MR GUNSON SC: Yes, in opening.
MR ELLIS SC: Oh okay, I abandon that, if I said it in opening.
HIS HONOUR: All right. Well I’ll do nothing about that point.
This caused a flurry and Judge Brett told counsel he would take submissions on it in chambers. Grant Maddock, an artist but coming from a family of sailors, who lives on his yacht, provided evidence that perhaps explained eye witness evidence at trial in which local man John Hughes had claimed to have seen a female figure rowing out in a dinghy towards the Four Winds sometime before midnight. The slightly built Maddock (56 k at the time) had long hair in 2009, and his silhouette at night could easily be mistaken for female. Percy produced a telling 2009 photo of a long haired Maddock sitting in his dinghy. His evidence was also corroborated by veteran sailor John Brettingham-Moore, who was coming in towards the marina on his motor boat at that time and was offered assistance by Maddock in his dinghy. Christopher Smith, a shipwright, worked on the Four Winds after it was towed in on Australia Day 2009. The feed wire in the bilge pump control panel had been deliberately removed; the pumps, however had plenty of battery power. He showed it to one of the forensic officers working on the boat and suggested she take a photo, which she reluctantly did, but wondered why she should. This lack of curiosity surprised Smith, even though the matter was a missing person case, not yet a murder investigation. Subsequently, he told the court, Smith bought the Four Winds. What the court didn’t hear was just how. The yacht, after being cleaned and repaired, was put up for auction. It was built in New Zealand, specially for Antarctic charter work, with a double skin steel hull and insulated cabin walls. It had cost $1 million to build but had last changed hands – when Neill-Fraser and Chappell bought it jointly in late 2008 – for just over $200,000. When Smith was asked to value the boat prior to it selling at auction, and having become very familiar with it, Smith went along to see how it sold. Perhaps its recent history, perhaps because it was expected to be expensive, he was the only one there. What would he offer? $50,000 he said. ‘Sold ! to the lone chap over there …’ Smith also told the court that the. DPP had visited the yacht a couple of weeks prior to the hearing, to make a winching exercise video. This was duly played to the court. After a couple of jerky false starts, the video showed Smith operating a winch, while a young man held onto a rope which was supposed to represent a body being winched up. It was a half baked idea badly executed (“worthless” according to Percy) and probably best described as helpful to Neill-Fraser as it showed just how hard it would have been for anyone let alone a middle aged woman with a bad back, to undertake the process as speculated by the prosecutor at trial. It was also a fitting segue to the upcoming testimony of the final witness, a winching expert, who was unavoidably overseas. The date for hearing testimony from that final witness and oral submissions by counsel was set down from March 7 to 9, 2018, the first available date for the court, the judge, the lawyers and the witness...The universe was obviously watching because the rescheduling of these hearings from July brought them to coincide with the two week season of the new play about the case, An Inconvenient Woman, produced by the Tasmanian Theatre Company........." Financed by Canberra lawyer Mark Blumer and written by playwright Brian Peddie the play is essentially edited extracts of the trial transcript and makes no comment that would be in contempt of court during the proceedings. But it says plenty through the facts. Presented as a pop up theatre in an old waterside shed in Evans Street, the play is anything but dry and inaccessible. Making the most of the length of the space, the production uses sparse but highly effective staging, lighting and music. Excellent performances and a tight script bring out the absurdity of the prosecution case – simply by stating it. The production played to full houses throughout its season; most of those attending the court also attended the theatre. Both were dramatic..........Memory and justice: Peddie’s play highlights the vital role of memory in the execution of the law. Neill-Fraser’s memory let her down and lead her down the path to conviction. At one stage she tells the court, “I didn’t think it was important,” (to remember), summing up in a nutshell one of the most critical issues in the administration of justice. Courts and juries expect witnesses and the accused to recall with precision their actions in the past, which have become important now, in the wake of the event. Where did you park your car on June 5 last year may be important now, but on June 5 last year it may not have been at all memorable. This reliance on the most fallible of human functions in such potentially life altering circumstances is a matter of considerable importance."
The entire commentary can be found at:
CT 1486 HIS HONOUR, COUNSEL, JURY ABSENT – SUBMISSIONS, PRIOR TO SUMMING UP, 13/10/2010
MR ELLIS SC: … it was attributed to me that I said it was Mr Chappell’s blood in the dinghy. Now I don’t believe I did.
MR GUNSON SC: Yes, you did.
MR ELLIS SC: Okay – I don’t know why I’d say it
HIS HONOUR: – Well – –
MR ELLIS SC: – because I’ve never believed it.
HIS HONOUR: In opening.
MR GUNSON SC: Yeah.
MR ELLIS SC: Oh in opening –
MR GUNSON SC: Yes, in opening.
MR ELLIS SC: Oh okay, I abandon that, if I said it in opening.
HIS HONOUR: All right. Well I’ll do nothing about that point.
This caused a flurry and Judge Brett told counsel he would take submissions on it in chambers. Grant Maddock, an artist but coming from a family of sailors, who lives on his yacht, provided evidence that perhaps explained eye witness evidence at trial in which local man John Hughes had claimed to have seen a female figure rowing out in a dinghy towards the Four Winds sometime before midnight. The slightly built Maddock (56 k at the time) had long hair in 2009, and his silhouette at night could easily be mistaken for female. Percy produced a telling 2009 photo of a long haired Maddock sitting in his dinghy. His evidence was also corroborated by veteran sailor John Brettingham-Moore, who was coming in towards the marina on his motor boat at that time and was offered assistance by Maddock in his dinghy. Christopher Smith, a shipwright, worked on the Four Winds after it was towed in on Australia Day 2009. The feed wire in the bilge pump control panel had been deliberately removed; the pumps, however had plenty of battery power. He showed it to one of the forensic officers working on the boat and suggested she take a photo, which she reluctantly did, but wondered why she should. This lack of curiosity surprised Smith, even though the matter was a missing person case, not yet a murder investigation. Subsequently, he told the court, Smith bought the Four Winds. What the court didn’t hear was just how. The yacht, after being cleaned and repaired, was put up for auction. It was built in New Zealand, specially for Antarctic charter work, with a double skin steel hull and insulated cabin walls. It had cost $1 million to build but had last changed hands – when Neill-Fraser and Chappell bought it jointly in late 2008 – for just over $200,000. When Smith was asked to value the boat prior to it selling at auction, and having become very familiar with it, Smith went along to see how it sold. Perhaps its recent history, perhaps because it was expected to be expensive, he was the only one there. What would he offer? $50,000 he said. ‘Sold ! to the lone chap over there …’ Smith also told the court that the. DPP had visited the yacht a couple of weeks prior to the hearing, to make a winching exercise video. This was duly played to the court. After a couple of jerky false starts, the video showed Smith operating a winch, while a young man held onto a rope which was supposed to represent a body being winched up. It was a half baked idea badly executed (“worthless” according to Percy) and probably best described as helpful to Neill-Fraser as it showed just how hard it would have been for anyone let alone a middle aged woman with a bad back, to undertake the process as speculated by the prosecutor at trial. It was also a fitting segue to the upcoming testimony of the final witness, a winching expert, who was unavoidably overseas. The date for hearing testimony from that final witness and oral submissions by counsel was set down from March 7 to 9, 2018, the first available date for the court, the judge, the lawyers and the witness...The universe was obviously watching because the rescheduling of these hearings from July brought them to coincide with the two week season of the new play about the case, An Inconvenient Woman, produced by the Tasmanian Theatre Company........." Financed by Canberra lawyer Mark Blumer and written by playwright Brian Peddie the play is essentially edited extracts of the trial transcript and makes no comment that would be in contempt of court during the proceedings. But it says plenty through the facts. Presented as a pop up theatre in an old waterside shed in Evans Street, the play is anything but dry and inaccessible. Making the most of the length of the space, the production uses sparse but highly effective staging, lighting and music. Excellent performances and a tight script bring out the absurdity of the prosecution case – simply by stating it. The production played to full houses throughout its season; most of those attending the court also attended the theatre. Both were dramatic..........Memory and justice: Peddie’s play highlights the vital role of memory in the execution of the law. Neill-Fraser’s memory let her down and lead her down the path to conviction. At one stage she tells the court, “I didn’t think it was important,” (to remember), summing up in a nutshell one of the most critical issues in the administration of justice. Courts and juries expect witnesses and the accused to recall with precision their actions in the past, which have become important now, in the wake of the event. Where did you park your car on June 5 last year may be important now, but on June 5 last year it may not have been at all memorable. This reliance on the most fallible of human functions in such potentially life altering circumstances is a matter of considerable importance."
The entire commentary can be found at:
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
