Beleaguered Queensville Australia DNA Lab: Bulletin: Networked Knowledge Media Report focuses on a newly enacted Commission of Inquiry into a flawed Queensland DNA extraction method blamed for forensic samples failing to identify Shandee Blackburn’s killer."…"Health Minister Shannon Fentiman this month commissioned the public inquiry into the “Project 13” extraction method, used in Queensland from 2007 to 2016, after revelations that it was implemented despite the state’s lab knowing it was catastrophically failing to recover DNA. Dr Bennett would have “unrestricted” powers to call scientists responsible for the DNA extraction method and other key witnesses to give evidence, Ms Fentiman said Independent forensic biologist Kirsty Wright has estimated 100,000 crime scene samples would have been processed using variations of the automated method, raising concerns crucial evidence was missed in serious crimes, including the vicious unsolved stabbing murder of Ms Blackburn in Mackay in 2013. The new scientist in charge of the lab, Linzi Wilson-Wilde, has been drawn into the scandal because she examined the extraction method for retired judge Walter Sofronoff’s inquiry last year and failed in her expert report to detail the serious problems it was having in recovering DNA."

STORY: Networked Knowledge Media Report: 17 October 2023 David Murray The Australian - New Queensland DNA lab inquiry: Hearing date and lawyers announced; (The aims of Networked Knowledge are to publish legal materials and to investigate and provide information on alleged serious miscarriages of justice);

GIST: "Public hearing dates and lawyers have been announced for a new commission of inquiry 

The hearings are scheduled to be held in Brisbane during the week commencing October 30, the inquiry said in a brief statement on Monday. Barrister Andrew Fox SC has been appointed senior counsel assisting the inquiry, and Gabriella Rubagotti has been appointed counsel assisting.

“More information about the hearings will be available closer to the date,” the statement said. Retired Federal Court judge Annabelle Bennett SC will conduct the inquiry, amid concerns about conflicts of interest in a high-powered advisory board set up to watch over the lab.

A website, dnaproject13inquiry.qld.gov.au, has been created with contact details for the new inquiry. “The Commissioner will have relevant powers under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1950 to invite submissions and hold hearings,” the website states.

“The Commissioner will provide a final report to Government on 17 November 2023. The final report will be published here.”

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman this month commissioned the public inquiry into the “Project 13” extraction method, used in Queensland from 2007 to 2016, after revelations that it was implemented despite the state’s lab knowing it was catastrophically failing to recover DNA. Dr Bennett would have “unrestricted” powers to call scientists responsible for the DNA extraction method and other key witnesses to give evidence, Ms Fentiman said.   

Independent forensic biologist Kirsty Wright has estimated 100,000 crime scene samples would have been processed using variations of the automated method, raising concerns crucial evidence was missed in serious crimes, including the vicious unsolved stabbing murder of Ms Blackburn in Mackay in 2013.

The new scientist in charge of the lab, Linzi Wilson-Wilde, has been drawn into the scandal because she examined the extraction method for retired judge Walter Sofronoff’s inquiry last year and failed in her expert report to detail the serious problems it was having in recovering DNA.

The Networked knowledge Media Report can be read at:

Queensland86.pdf

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The Australian story can be read at:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/new-queensland-dna-lab-inquiry-hearing-date-and- lawyers-announced/news-story/527506f0d82f408f2eda0e91d4233c2b

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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/120008354894645705/47049136857587929

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.”

https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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