Author Archives: andrew

Sorry – for 27 years in jail

Posted on August 7, 2020 by andrew

A Chinese court has apologised to Yuhuan Zhang for his wrongful conviction, after he spent 27 years in jail. The news comes just days after our two-part series on US and Australian prosecutors and judges making similar apologies. We like … Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 3 Comments

Sue Neill-Fraser ‘much loved and respected’ by inmates

Posted on August 2, 2020 by andrew

Two former prison inmates attending the Hobart vigil held on Saturday August 1, 2020 to mark the 4,000 days Sue Neill-Fraser has spent in jail, were interviewed by the Hobart Mercury’s Sally Glaetzer and the story was headline news in … Continue reading →

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser | 9 Comments

The Honourable List – in Australia

Posted on July 31, 2020 by andrew

Previously, we held up as examples some prosecutors and judges who had Honourably taken responsibility and apologised for mistakes and malpractice causing some innocents to suffer wrongful convictions. They were (almost) all in America; we couldn’t find any examples in … Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 4 Comments

The Honourable List – a start

Posted on July 30, 2020 by andrew

Doing the honourable thing by accepting responsibility for mistakes within the criminal justice system stands out as a novelty, it sometimes seems to us. So we want to recognise some of those who have done the honourable thing, apologising for … Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 8 Comments

How to fix Australia’s biggest legal scandal

Posted on July 29, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban. It could be the start of a black joke: ‘have you heard the one about the chief forensic pathologist of a modern Australian state who was not qualified to do his job, was discredited by the legal … Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 9 Comments

Was Joanne Lees’ hair tie a smoking gun?

Posted on July 28, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban. In the wake of our July 21, 2020 story covering the CJZ produced Channel 7 documentary mini series, Murder in the Outback, in which Bradley Murdoch’s conviction for the murder of Peter Falconio was examined, several readers … Continue reading →

Posted in Case 12 Bradley Murdoch | 29 Comments

Innocence Files reveals the really guilty

Posted on July 26, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban. Justice at the hands of ‘The System’ is sometimes no justice at all, it seems, as the new 9-part series The Innocence Files (Netflix) reveals how police break the rules, forensic experts use junk science, prosecutors withhold … Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 9 Comments

Sue Neill-Fraser trial flashback – the defence closing submission

Posted on July 25, 2020 by andrew

Marking 11 years since her arrest (August 20, 2009) and while awaiting the oft-delayed start of Sue Neill-Fraser’s further appeal against her conviction for the murder of Bob Chappell (now scheduled for November 2, 2020), we publish the transcript of … Continue reading →

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser | 6 Comments

Expert Witness 101 – inform, not advocate

Posted on July 24, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban. Eve Ash, the Melbourne filmmaker whose documentary, Shadow of Doubt, opened a Pandora’s Box on the Sue Neill-Fraser (many say wrongful) murder conviction, has produced a 4-part eLearning course, Giving Expert Evidence, which has now (July 23, … Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 3 Comments

Victoria’s Court of Appeal – too many judgements overturned, bring on a CCRC

Posted on July 23, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban. Over the past 14 years under Justice Chris Maxwell’s reign as its president, 18 of the judgements of Victoria’s Court of Appeal have been overturned by the High Court, while in the previous decade, 10 of its … Continue reading →

Posted in CCRC, General articles | 7 Comments