PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Ms Folbigg, 55, was found guilty of the murder of Patrick, Laura and Sarah, and the manslaughter of Caleb in 2003. The Folbigg children died between the ages of 19 days and 18 months between 1989 and 1999. Mr Daley’s announcement comes following a mammoth two-week inquiry into Ms Folbigg’s convictions, through which the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt on the convictions. The inquiry was brought on after a 2021 scientific report suggested at least two of the babies, Laura and Sarah, died from a rare genetic variant that can cause fast, chaotic heartbeats or arrhythmias. This genetic mutation - known as the CALM2 variant - was not discovered by medical scientists until years after the deaths and would not have been investigated at the time, the inquiry was told. Physicians, psychiatrists and researchers fronted the hearing to discuss the vidence and determine whether Ms Folbigg killed the children. Medical experts were questioned over possible links the deaths were caused by natural causes after a re-examination of the autopsy records found the girls might have carried a fatal genetic mutation. The inquiry was also told the girls’ deaths might be linked to catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a condition characterised by an abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia. Experts also spoke about how Ms Folbigg’s diaries written before her arrest in the late ’90s were misinterpreted by prosecutors who used her own words against her during the 2003 trial."
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STORY: “Kathleen Folbigg to be released from prison after 20 years,” The Australian, Legal Affairs Reporter Ellie Dudley, reports. (Ellie Dudley is the legal affairs correspondent at The Australian covering courts, crime, and changes to the legal industry. She was previously a reporter on the NSW desk and, before that, one of the newspaper's cadets.)
GIST: “Kathleen Folbigg will be set free from 20 years in prison, after a mammoth judicial inquiry into the deaths of her four infants exonerated her from their murder.
NSW Attorney General Michael Daley on Monday made the recommendation of Ms Folbigg’s pardon to the NSW Governor Margaret Beazley AC KC.
Ms Beazley accepted the recommendation.
Mr Daley also released summary findings prepared by the Hon Thomas Bathurst AC KC, who has been leading an inquiry into the convictions of Ms Folbigg.
In a memorandum outlining his findings, Mr Bathurst stated he had reached “a firm view that there was reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Ms Folbigg for each of the offences for which she was originally tried.”
Key points from Mr Bathurst’s memorandum to Mr Daley include:
• There is a reasonable possibility that three of the children died of natural causes.
• In the case of Sarah and Laura Folbigg, there is a reasonable possibility a genetic mutation known as CALM2-G114R occasioned their deaths.
• Mr Bathurst was “unable to accept… the proposition that Ms Folbigg was anything but a caring mother for her children.”
• In relation to the death of a fourth child, Mr Bathurst found that “the coincidence and tendency evidence which was central to the (2003) Crown case falls away.”
• In relation to Ms Folbigg's diary entries, evidence suggests they were the writings of a grieving and possibly depressed mother, blaming herself for the death of each child, as distinct from admissions that she murdered or otherwise harmed them.
Mr Bathurst advised that due to the volume of submissions and evidence, it would take some time for the formal report to be finalised.
“The result today is confirmation that our judicial system is capable of delivering justice, and demonstrates that the rule of law is an important underpinning of our democratic system,” Mr Daley said.
“I thank the team on the inquiry for the work they have done so far. I also thank Mr Bathurst for the thorough and robust assessment he provided me which helped enable this outcome.”
Ms Folbigg, 55, was found guilty of the murder of Patrick, Laura and Sarah, and the manslaughter of Caleb in 2003. The Folbigg children died between the ages of 19 days and 18 months between 1989 and 1999.
Mr Daley’s announcement comes following a mammoth two-week inquiry into Ms Folbigg’s convictions, through which the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt on the convictions.
The inquiry was brought on after a 2021 scientific report suggested at least two of the babies, Laura and Sarah, died from a rare genetic variant that can cause fast, chaotic heartbeats or arrhythmias.
This genetic mutation - known as the CALM2 variant - was not discovered by medical scientists until years after the deaths and would not have been investigated at the time, the inquiry was told.
Physicians, psychiatrists and researchers fronted the hearing to discuss the vidence and determine whether Ms Folbigg killed the children.
Medical experts were questioned over possible links the deaths were caused by natural causes after a re-examination of the autopsy records found the girls might have carried a fatal genetic mutation.
The inquiry was also told the girls’ deaths might be linked to catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a condition characterised by an abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia.
Experts also spoke about how Ms Folbigg’s diaries written before her arrest in the late ’90s were misinterpreted by prosecutors who used her own words against her during the 2003 trial.
Asked whether Ms Folbigg would be provided compensation in light of her pardon, Mr Daley said that question was “well ahead of the story.”
“Mr Bathurst will conclude his findings,” he said. “One of the options that would be open to him if he thought fit would be to refer to the court of criminal appeal the question of whether her conviction should be quashed and that is a matter for him.”
“If that was to happen, it would be open to Kathleen Folbigg to initiate civil proceedings against the State of New South Wales for compensation. The only other avenue for compensation would likely be for her to make an application to the government for a payment.
“But that is getting well ahead of the story.”
This was the second inquiry into Folbigg’s guilty conviction.
In 2019, NSW District Court chief judge Reginald Blanch QC found evidence presented at an inquiry reinforced she was responsible for the deaths of her children.
Folbigg took the matter to the Court of Criminal Appeal to have Judge Blanch’s findings overturned but she was ultimately unsuccessful."
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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