Susan Neill-Fraser: Australia: The Mercury reports: '‘Game-changing’ evidence next year as Sue Neill-Fraser’s appeal against her murder conviction adjourned..." The legislation requires the evidence to be “fresh and compelling” for the outcome of 2010 murder trial to be altered. The defence is banking on their next witness, crime scene expert Dr Mark Reynolds, to satisfy that threshold. They will use his evidence to attack the police winching reconstruction aboard the Four Winds. The reconstruction was used to support the prosecution’s case that Neill-Fraser winched Mr Chappell’s body from the yacht to be disposed. Her barrister Tom Percy QC has told the court the “fresh evaluation” of the winching experiment would show it “lacked any genuine scientific veracity”. Outside court on Wednesday, daughter Sarah Bowles said the delay was disappointing but she was confident the appeal was gaining ground. “This case has always been about the scientific evidence and we’re calling our key scientific expert in March 2018 so we’re looking forward to that,” she said."

STORY: '‘Game-changing’ evidence next year as Sue Neill-Fraser’s appeal against her murder conviction adjourned, by reporter Patrick Billing, published by The Mercury on November 1, 2017.

GIST; "Convicted killer Susan Neill-Fraser will spend another Christmas behind bars with her landmark appeal adjourned on Wednesday. The history-making court case will recommence next year when the defence believes game-changing evidence will emerge. Since Monday the first appeal of its kind has played host to a series of characters and sensational claims. Neill-Fraser’s legal team believe the most substantial evidence casting doubt on the jury’s verdict will surface when the case resumes in March. Neill-Fraser’s bid to overturn her conviction for murdering partner Bob Chappell aboard their yacht on Australia Day 2009 is being held under never-before-used appeal laws. The legislation requires the evidence to be “fresh and compelling” for the outcome of 2010 murder trial to be altered. The defence is banking on their next witness, crime scene expert Dr Mark Reynolds, to satisfy that threshold. They will use his evidence to attack the police winching reconstruction aboard the Four Winds. The reconstruction was used to support the prosecution’s case that Neill-Fraser winched Mr Chappell’s body from the yacht to be disposed. Her barrister Tom Percy QC has told the court the “fresh evaluation” of the winching experiment would show it “lacked any genuine scientific veracity”. Outside court on Wednesday, daughter Sarah Bowles said the delay was disappointing but she was confident the appeal was gaining ground. “This case has always been about the scientific evidence and we’re calling our key scientific expert in March 2018 so we’re looking forward to that,” she said. “We have a lot of confidence in our legal team and we’re expecting that a new light will be cast on this case after we’ve heard from this witness.” So far the Supreme Court in Hobart has heard from 13 defence witnesses. Grant Maddock told the court he was rowing a dinghy in the area on the night of Mr Chappell’s disappearance and at the time had long hair. The defence will say this new evidence casts doubt on arguments at the trial that the rower was Neill-Fraser. Witness Meaghan Vass, the then homeless teenager whose DNA was found on the Four Winds, shocked the court by stating she had signed a false statutory declaration. The affidavit claimed she had been on the Four Winds the night of Bob Chappell’s disappearance, contradicting evidence she gave at the trial that she’d never been there. But on Monday she told the court she had been made to sign the statement “out of fear”. Forensic scientist Maxwell Jones told the court that Ms Vass’ DNA sample found on the yacht was typical of primary contact. At the trial prosecutors argued the DNA was put there by secondary transfer, something Mr Jones could not definitively rule out."

The entire story can be found at:
 http://www.themercury.com.au/news/scales-of-justice/gamechanging-evidence-next-year-as-sue-neillfrasers-appeal-against-her-murder-conviction-adjourned/news-story/1b8016de8620cf9041e96638890ff79b

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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.