PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Professor Robert Moles at Flinders University of South Australia is the leading Australian expert on miscarriages of justice. Extrapolating from the similar legal systems of the USA and the UK, where miscarriages are more vigorously investigated, Bob Moles reckons: “We must have between 400 and 800 wrongly convicted people in Australian prisons. Each case is an unspeakable tragedy.” Public opinion is mostly overwhelmingly against the convicted person, as Dr Moles told me this week. “Most members of the public and most people in the justice system suffer from what I call ‘cognitive bias’. They cannot bear to believe the police and the courts might sometimes get it terribly wrong. That is just too awful to believe. It is literally unthinkable.” OK. But I still don’t think she did it. And if she did, with no body, no witness, no weapon and scant motive she should have committed the perfect crime."
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STORY: As published by 'Networked Knowledge': "On 3 December 2021 Charles Wooley reported in The Mercury, Lack of justice for Neill-Fraser." (Charles Wooley is a Tasmanian 60 Minutes reporter and documentary filmmaker.)
GIST: "For those who think there has been a miscarriage of justice, and I am one of them, the Tasmanian Court of Criminal Appeal’s dismissal of ’s bid for freedom was disappointing. But hardly a surprise.
Over the years I have covered murder prosecutions in various jurisdictions but never one that secured a conviction without a body, a witness, a credible motive and a weapon. The Tasmanian criminal justice system seemed, at least to me, to go out on a limb given the danger of huge reputational damage had the case gone the way of the notorious Lindy Chamberlain conviction back in 1982.
A subsequent Northern Territory Royal Commission into Chamberlain’s wrongful conviction questioned circumstantial evidence, flawed forensics, overzealous policing and a presumption of guilt rather than innocence. Lindy eventually received $1.3m from the government. Not much compensation considering the family’s suffering, the jailing and the public vilification.
Susan Neill-Fraser's supporters have always said that the Chamberlain miscarriage is exactly what happened here in River City. But I suspect Sue’s supporters are not in a majority as the Mercury judiciously editorialised this week: “No legal system is perfect. The courts in Tasmania are not immune from the possibility of a miscarriage of justice. But this case has been through an extraordinary sequence of scrutiny by a series of courts and tribunals. There has been criticism of the state’s police, judiciary and legal system – the vast majority has been shown to have been unfounded and wrong.” Professor Robert Moles at Flinders University of South Australia is the leading Australian expert on miscarriages of justice. Extrapolating from the similar legal systems of the USA and the UK, where miscarriages are more vigorously investigated,
Bob Moles reckons: “We must have between 400 and 800 wrongly convicted people in Australian prisons. Each case is an unspeakable tragedy.” Public opinion is mostly overwhelmingly against the convicted person, as Dr Moles told me this week. “Most members of the public and most people in the justice system suffer from what I call ‘cognitive bias’. They cannot bear to believe the police and the courts might sometimes get it terribly wrong. That is just too awful to believe. It is literally unthinkable.” OK. But I still don’t think she did it. And if she did, with no body, no witness, no weapon and scant motive she should have committed the perfect crime.
But for now, short of her partner Bob Chappell turning up in Rio de Janeiro, or someone ’fessing up to killing him, the matter looks at an end. Whatever you think or I think is now immaterial. Sue will spend her 13th Christmas in jail and next year she will qualify for parole.
Recently the system released a man convicted of murder, rape and torture (in a case so appalling I won’t reiterate the detail) back on to the streets. So why not a wheelchair- bound 67-year-old grandmother? What danger does she represent to society?
But to qualify for parole will need to be contrite just like any other convict who seeks early release.
The question is, can she bring herself to utter the classic line of the old prison lag? “I’m sorry and I dunno why I done it, I just done it.” Doesn’t sound much like her, does it? But Sue, if you are reading this, try not to be consumed by the fury of the innocent.
Co-operate. Take the get-out-of-jail-card and rejoin your family. Once you are free you can campaign for much needed reform of the criminal justice system, such as having a forensic science unit which is independent of the police.
You could also support Bob Moles’ recommendation that Australia should adopt the UK model of a Criminal Review Commission which since 1997 has identified 460 wrongful convictions including 100 for murder. Canada is setting up such a body. New Zealand established its CRC last year. The United States has Innocence Projects and even Conviction Integrity Units set up by prosecutors. Australia is almost alone among comparable countries in failing to enable any truly independent reviews of wrongful convictions.
Sue, might I suggest that you now know more than most people about the need for criminal justice reform. So, if you are innocent, as many of us believe, some good might yet come of your incarceration."
The entire story can be read at:
http://netk.net.au/Tasmania/Neill-Fraser122.pdf
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;
