Friday, November 27, 2020

Scott Austic: West Australia: Major Development: (White elephant case): He has been acquitted of murdering his pregnant lover Stacey Thorne after police allegedly planted evidence, ABC News reports: Key points: Stacey Thorne was murdered in 2007 while 22 weeks pregnant. Her lover Scott Austic had his initial guilty verdict overturned on appeal. His second trial heard police planted evidence against him."



Image result for "white elephant"

In the years since I started publishing this Blog I have become increasingly disturbed by the 'white elephant' in the room: Sheer, unadulterated, willful   misconduct in the criminal justice system - much  of it involving forensic evidence - committed by lab technicians,  pathologists, police officers, who plant incriminating objects such as weapons and drugs which are then submitted like lawful  exhibits for forensic analysis,  prosecutors and others.  Think Annie Dookhan; Think Sonia Farak; Think David Kofoed; Think Charles Smith; Think Ken Anderson; Think Gene Morrison. Think Michael West;   I therefore decided years ago to run this image of a white elephant at the top of every applicable post henceforth, to draw our reader's attention to   what I see as a major problem in all too many criminal justice system's - my own included.  Harold Levy; Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
"Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury. 
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009;

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WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and images of people who have died.

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "However, at the retrial, unlike the initial case, the defence was based on allegations "a small but corrupt" group of police officers, who had decided early on Mr Austic was the culprit, planted crucial evidence against him.  David Edwardson QC said that included the Jim Beam can and the knife that was alleged to be the murder weapon. The defence called an expert, who testified the knife "miraculously" found by detectives in a paddock that already been thoroughly searched by State Emergency Service volunteers, was not long enough to have inflicted the deep wounds suffered by Ms Thorne. The defence also claimed the cigarette packet found on the table at Mr Austic's home did not appear in photographs and videos of the same scene taken by forensic police the day before."

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STORY: "Scott Austic acquitted of murdering pregnant lover Stacey Thorne after police allegedly planted evidence," by reporter Joanne Menagh, published by ABC News on November 20, 2020.

GIST: After 13 years fighting to clear his name, most of that time in custody, WA man Scott Austic has been found not guilty — after a second trial — of murdering his pregnant lover.

Amid allegations that police in 2007 framed the 45-year-old, the Supreme Court jury deliberated for two hours before acquitting him of fatally stabbing 35-year-old Stacey Thorne.

Mr Austic's mother broke down sobbing when the verdict was delivered.

Ms Thorne was 22 weeks' pregnant with Mr Austic's child when she was stabbed 21 times at her Boddington home, about 120 kilometres south-east of Perth, before stumbling outside where she collapsed and died. 

Mr Austic, described in court as Ms Thorne's casual sexual partner, first stood trial in 2009 when he was found guilty of wilful murder and sentenced to life in jail with a 25-year minimum.

An appeal in 2010 was dismissed, but he was granted a rare second challenge to his conviction eight years later, after concerns were raised that key pieces of evidence, including the alleged murder weapon, were planted by police.

Last year, after that second appeal was heard, Mr Austic's conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered.

That took place over the past three weeks with prosecutor Justin Whalley SC outlining "11 strands of circumstantial evidence" that he claimed proved Mr Austic was Ms Thorne's killer.

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  • The evidence included: 
  • Mr Austic "lying" to police in an interview about what he was wearing on the night of the stabbing, because CCTV from the local hotel showed him in different clothing
  • the discovery of a Jim Beam can with Mr Austic's DNA on a verge outside Ms Thorne's home
  • the discovery of a knife with Ms Thorne's blood on it in a paddock near Mr Austic's home
  • the finding of a bloodstained cigarette packet on a table at Mr Austic's house; and importantly
  • a motive, because Mr Austic did not want Ms Thorne to have his child.


The evidence about that alleged motive included a text message Mr Austic sent Ms Thorne 10 days before her death saying "I will do anything for you not to have it. Just please let me know. I'll do anything."

As he did at his first trial, Mr Austic denied having anything to do with Ms Thorne's death.

Police allegedly planted evidence:

However, at the retrial, unlike the initial case, the defence was based on allegations "a small but corrupt" group of police officers, who had decided early on Mr Austic was the culprit, planted crucial evidence against him. 

David Edwardson QC said that included the Jim Beam can and the knife that was alleged to be the murder weapon.

The defence called an expert, who testified the knife "miraculously" found by detectives in a paddock that already been thoroughly searched by State Emergency Service volunteers, was not long enough to have inflicted the deep wounds suffered by Ms Thorne.

The defence also claimed the cigarette packet found on the table at Mr Austic's home did not appear in photographs and videos of the same scene taken by forensic police the day before.

The police officers who found the items were called to testify at the trial, and categorically denied "introducing", or planting, the items in question.

In a closing address to the jury, Mr Whalley described the allegations as "fantasy land."

He suggested the bloodstained cigarette packet on the table at Mr Austic's could be seen in "zoomed in" versions of the original photographs taken by police.

He also raised the possibility that the forensic pathologist who did the post-mortem examination on Ms Thorne's body in 2007, who had since died, may have made "erroneous" measurements of the knife wounds she suffered.

But in the end, the jury of 12 men and women was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Austic murdered Ms Thorne, and delivered a unanimous verdict of not guilty.

Victim's family voice anger over outcome:

The courtroom was packed with members of Mr Austic and Ms Thorne's families.

The police officers who investigated the case — including those whose credibility was called into question — were in attendance.

Outside the court Ms Thorne's sister Hayley said the family was devastated by the verdict.

"To be feeling the way that we are feeling now, is like, I can't even feel my own body," Hayley Thorne said.

"It's not justice with a white jury, where's our justice? This is white privilege.


Ms Thorne said the family would be upset to see Mr Austic walking free.

"It hurts, it hurts. If we see him walking out of this courthouse it's going to kill us," she said.

Hayley Thorne's niece, Charmaine Williams, said the last 13 years had been heartbreaking for the family.

"Every time they have an appeal, it brings up the hurt for our family. Every time," she said.

"Stacey never died, you know?

"She is with us, but we're still feeling the pain every time they bring that up in our faces and it's not fair on our family.

"Where's the justice? There's no justice.""

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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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FINAL, FINAL WORD (FOR NOW!): "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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