Stephen “Shorty” Jamieson is 38 years into a life sentence arising from an alleged confession documented only by an uncorroborated “verbatim record of interview” typed by detectives who arrested him in 1988, as we reported earlier this year.
The ongoing failure by the law to recognize the unfairness of his trial, despite reforms enacted just a few years later, specifically to redress this kind of injustice compounds the failure of the system.
A petition seeking 500 signatures by Sept. 29 has been launched requesting that the House call on the New South Wales Attorney General to respond publicly to the open memorandum from Professor Helen Fraser and Professor Michele Ruyters entitled “DNA and false confession evidence warrant an inquiry into the 1990 conviction and life sentence of Stephen ‘Shorty’ Jamieson”.
Text of petition
To the President and Members of the Legislative Council, the residents of New South Wales state that:
(a) Stephen ‘Shorty’ Jamieson has been in prison since 1988, serving a life sentence for the brutal abduction, rape and murder of Janine Balding,
(b) Jamieson has always maintained his innocence,
(c) he was convicted on the basis of a confession typed by a detective in a ‘verbatim record of interview’ before mandatory electronic recording of police interviews, when many wrongful convictions were caused by inaccurately transcribed confessions,
(d) new linguistic evidence confirms that Jamieson’s ‘confession’ cannot be a reliable representation of his words,
(e) the real culprits testified that the person with them was not Jamieson but another man, also nicknamed ‘Shorty’, known to wear a black bandana,
(f) DNA testing on the black bandana used to gag the victim reveals an unknown male profile, which, if tested against the other Shorty’s profile, could support Jamieson’s case, and
(g) a nine-page open memorandum, outlining the facts of the case and requesting an independent inquiry into Jamieson’s confession, has been endorsed by dozens of eminent lawyers and academics expressing concern that Jamieson, who has foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, may have been wrongfully convicted.
Where to sign petition (just needs name, email, and tick to confirm NSW residency)
Signed