PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Those concerns included allegations that the evidence may have been planted by police, including a bloodied cigarette packet that was not in the first photographs and a crime scene video taken at Mr Austic's house, but did appear in a photograph that was taken more than 30 hours later. The murder weapon was alleged to be a folding knife, but it was not found by detectives until three days after Ms Thorne's death, despite an earlier search of the same area by State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers. A British forensic pathologist testified at Mr Austic's appeal that it was unlikely the same knife had caused Ms Thorne's fatal wounds, because its blade was too short. There were also questions about a Jim Beam can located on a road verge near Ms Thorne's home that had Mr Austic's DNA on it. His legal team suggested the can could also have been "placed" where it was found.'"
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STORY: "Scott Austic wins retrial thirteen years into life sentence for murdering pregnant girlfriend Stacey Thorne, by Reporter Joanna Menagh, published by Abc.net.au on May 13, 2020.
KEY POINTS: "Stacey Thorne was stabbed 21 times at her home in Boddington in 2007; Scott Austic was sentenced to life in jail over the 34-year-old's death. Evidence in question included a Jim Beam can, cigarette pack and a knife."
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GIST: "A West Australian man who is 13 years into a life jail term for murdering his pregnant girlfriend has had his conviction quashed and a retrial ordered, amid allegations police planted crucial pieces of evidence.
Scott Austic has always maintained he did not murder 34-year-old Stacey Thorne, who was 22 weeks' pregnant with his child.
Ms Thorne was stabbed 21 times and left to die at her home in Boddington, south-east of Perth, in December 2007.
Prosecutors said the motive for the killing was that Mr Austic — who lived about 350 metres from Ms Thorne and kept their relationship secret — did not want her to have the baby.
Mr Austic was not in court to hear the unanimous decision.
The reasons for the decision have been suppressed by the Appeal Court because of the retrial.
His previous appeals failed, but in 2018 WA Attorney-General John Quigley — in a rare move — referred his case back to the Court of Appeal after Mr Austic's legal team raised concerns about some key evidence in the case.
Those concerns included allegations that the evidence may have been planted by police, including a bloodied cigarette packet that was not in the first photographs and a crime scene video taken at Mr Austic's house, but did appear in a photograph that was taken more than 30 hours later.
The murder weapon was alleged to be a folding knife, but it was not found by detectives until three days after Ms Thorne's death, despite an earlier search of the same area by State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers.
A British forensic pathologist testified at Mr Austic's appeal that it was unlikely the same knife had caused Ms Thorne's fatal wounds, because its blade was too short.
There were also questions about a Jim Beam can located on a road verge near Ms Thorne's home that had Mr Austic's DNA on it.
His legal team suggested the can could also have been "placed" where it was found.
The appeal was heard by three Supreme Court judges in July last year, who delivered their unanimous judgment this morning.
Austic family 'emotional and excited'
In a statement, Mr Austic's family said they would not give up their fight until he was home.
"We are happy with today's decision, although we all understand there is still a long road ahead," the statement said.
"We are emotional and excited.
"We ask at this time, media leave us to work through the next steps and respect our privacy.
"We thank everybody for their support and especially thank our legal team.
"To Scott, we want you home and we will not give up."
Ruling welcomed by Austic's lawyer:
Mr Austic's lawyer, Clint Hampson, said he was also happy with the decision.
"Obviously it's not the ultimate goal, we didn't get a full acquittal, but we got a retrial," he said.
"All we've ever said from day one is that he didn't get a fair trial, and now we get an opportunity to get a new trial."
Dr Hampson said he had not spoken to Mr Austic following the decision, but expected to speak with him later today.
He said his client was doing well in prison and a bail application would be made in the coming weeks.
"I don't think [Mr Austic] slept much last night, nor did his mother, but I think he'll be quite excited," he said. "Essentially, the conviction's been set aside, he's no longer a wilful murderer, he's just another guy on remand."
Dr Hampson said it was too early to say when the new trial would go ahead and said he felt for Ms Thorne's family.
"It would be difficult because they had closure and now it's obviously been reopened again, so I feel for them," he said.
"But at the end of the day we just need to make sure that justice is served.""
The entire story can be read 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/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;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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