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TRANSCRIPT FOR DAY TWO;
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PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: "On Thursday the court heard the expert evidence by a witness — referred to as Dr Brereton — found it “so inherently unreliable” that almost his entire account would have to be corroborated. “Even in these circumstances I would have grave concerns about relying in any significant way on aspects of his evidence that were uncorroborated,” Dr Brereton had said in his report."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Prosecutors relied on evidence by South Australia’s former chief pathologist Colin Manock, whose evidence Bromley’s lawyers said, “contradicted the eyewitness account Carter gave as much as it confirmed it”. In their submissions, Bromley’s lawyers told the High Court the autopsy evidence was challenged. Mr Manock was later found not to have possessed the qualifications to either certify cause of death or act as an expert witness. But this pillar of the Bromley case will not be considered by the High Court because it was not discussed in the Court of Criminal Appeal South Australia’s DPP in its submissions said the High Court “must accept the cause of death” given by Mr Manock. “The limited referral has the effect of leaving the findings and conclusions of the Full Court in relation to the fresh pathological evidence, and hence the cause of death, undisturbed,” the submissions said."
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STORY: "'Enough' evidence to find Derek Bromley guilty of murder he's denied for 39 years", court hears," published by SBS News, on May 19, 2023.
SUB-HEADING: "The High Court has heard the prosecution’s case for Derek Bromley to remain in prison for a murder in Adelaide he has always said he didn’t commit."
GIST: "Australia’s longest-serving Indigenous prisoner Derek Bromley will remain in prison, possibly for months, awaiting the outcome of a High Court decision on his final bid for freedom.
The Nurungga Ngarrindjeri man has spent nearly 40 years in a South Australian prison, serving a life sentence for the murder of Stephen Docoza, whose body was found in Adelaide’s River Torrens in 1984.
Bromley has been eligible for parole since 2006 but it has been denied because he has continued to maintain his innocence.
The matter was heard by five High Court justices on Thursday, the second of two days at the High Court in Canberra.
The full bench heard the Crown’s key witness in the case, Gary Carter, was admitted to a psychiatric ward, Hillcrest Hospital, the day after the incident.
“I was unwell, yes, I had been off my medication,” Mr Carter had said at the trial.
“I saw the devil… there were times when I talked about playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club”
Bromley’s lawyer Stephen Keim SC has contested that the South Australian Court of Criminal Appeal ignored new psychiatric evidence that Mr Carter’s evidence “could not be relied upon unless corroborated in every respect”, and that his illness made him susceptible to suggestibility.
He had told the court Mr Carter was suffering “acute symptoms of schizoaffective disorder” in the weeks prior.
On Thursday the court heard the expert evidence by a witness — referred to as Dr Brereton — found it “so inherently unreliable” that almost his entire account would have to be corroborated.
“Even in these circumstances I would have grave concerns about relying in any significant way on aspects of his evidence that were uncorroborated,” Dr Brereton had said in his report.
Lawyers acting for the South Australian office of the Director of Public Prosecutions submitted it wasn’t necessary for ‘all’ Mr Carter’s evidence to be corroborated.
“I do not go so far as to say you can take the whole of the account,” director of public prosecutions for South Australia Martin Hinton QC, told the court.
“But you have enough to be satisfied that there was a violent assault.”
Seven ‘substantive propositions’
In 1984, Bromley and co-accused John Karpany were found guilty of bludgeoning Adelaide man Stephen Docoza to death on the banks of the River Torrens using a dumbbell after the victim refused their sexual advances.
“The dumbbell is there, there are injuries to the body, the bottom half, the pants are missing - he said they asked for sex,” Mr Hinton said.
The prosecution argued there were seven “substantive propositions” as to why the prosecution case remains that Mr Bromley killed Mr Docoza.
“The body is in the river, the desert boots [with shoelaces still tied] are where he was in the location,” Mr Hinton said. “That is enough.”
Prosecutors also disputed fresh evidence from a taxi driver known as Mr George which cast doubt on Bromley’s involvement.
Mr George had identified the victim, Mr Carter, Karpany, and a “dapper man” wearing a white suit, who Mr Keim argued could not be his client.
But Mr Hinton said the taxi driver had overheard one of the men say he’d just been released from prison, which matched Bromley’s situation.
Prosecutors relied on evidence by South Australia’s former chief pathologist Colin Manock, whose evidence Bromley’s lawyers said, “contradicted the eyewitness account Carter gave as much as it confirmed it”.
In their submissions, Bromley’s lawyers told the High Court the autopsy evidence was challenged.
Mr Manock was later found not to have possessed the qualifications to either certify cause of death or act as an expert witness. But this pillar of the Bromley case will not be considered by the High Court because it was not discussed in the Court of Criminal Appeal
South Australia’s DPP in its submissions said the High Court “must accept the cause of death” given by Mr Manock.
“The limited referral has the effect of leaving the findings and conclusions of the Full Court in relation to the fresh pathological evidence, and hence the cause of death, undisturbed,” the submissions said.
The court has deferred its decision."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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: "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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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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