Category Archives: Case 11 Robert Xie

Who murdered Urban?

Andrew L. Urban April 5, 2026: Sorry, can’t resist the headline…. an eagle eyed reader of this blog living in Moscow alerted us to the 1990 wrongful conviction of David Tamihere for the 1989 murder of Urban Höglin and his … Continue reading

Posted in Case 11 Robert Xie | 4 Comments

Jury secrecy shields wrongful convictions; should juries be recorded?

Andrew L. Urban Recorded and with availability restricted to relevant judges, jury deliberations hold the key to many wrongful convictions. 

Posted in Case 11 Robert Xie, General articles | 6 Comments

Speculation and bias – tools of trade for prosecutors and judges

Andrew L. Urban A bit harsh, that headline? Well, sure, there are judges and prosecutors who do not generally use those tools, but in the world of wrongful convictions, it is not uncommon. In trials and in appeals, these nasties … Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 11 Robert Xie, Case 17 Kathleen Folbigg, Case 19 Marco Rusterholz | 11 Comments

Does it pass the pub test = does it pass the common sense test?

Andrew L. Urban  Common sense would tell you that a migrant with imperfect English accused of murdering a whole family but claiming to be innocent would not make a confession to negate his alibi to a stranger in jail, even … Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 07 George Pell, Case 11 Robert Xie | 9 Comments

The Crown’s resources $$$$$ v the accused $ – unequal arms

Andrew L. Urban By the time Robert Xie faced his fourth trial in June 2016 for the murder of the Lin family, he was physically, mentally – and financially – exhausted. Convicted, the appeal was still to come … he … Continue reading

Posted in Case 04 Gordon Wood, Case 11 Robert Xie | 3 Comments

Can we legitimately call it a ‘justice’ system?

Andrew L. Urban In just the three cases that were cited in our recent series (Oct 20 – 26 2025) allocating seven of our Red Herring Certificates to a total of 8 judges and 3 prosecutors who we believe have … Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 11 Robert Xie, Case 26 Frank Valentine, CCRC | 5 Comments

The fifth Red Herring Certificate goes to … Justice Elizabeth Fullerton

In 2016, at the fourth and final multiple-murder trial of Robert Xie, Justice Fullerton was directly offered at least one chance to ensure a fair trial. She refused. She also erred in some of her directions to the jury. 

Posted in Case 11 Robert Xie | 7 Comments

The fourth Red Herring Certificate goes jointly to … Mark Tedeschi KC & Tanya Smith

The headlines have gone but a lifetime jail sentence remains for Robert Xie for the 2009 murder of the Lin family. (Three adults and his two young nephews.) Xie was convicted without any real evidence. The case was fashioned in … Continue reading

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Prosecutors hunting for convictions

Andrew L. Urban Prosecutorial (bad) behaviour is partly responsible for nearly 1 in 5 wrongful convictions in Australia. That is the statistic reported in a Griffith University study. That study looked at just 71 wrongful convictions. Behind the statistic is … Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 11 Robert Xie, Case 19 Marco Rusterholz | 3 Comments

Poor judgement – bad apple judges harm entire judiciary

Andrew L. Urban In my own narrow lane of writing about wrongful convictions, the concentration of error prone judges probably seems higher than elsewhere in the legal system. But maybe not … Supreme Court judge (since 2014) Belinda Rigg SC, … Continue reading

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser, Case 05 Derek Bromley, Case 11 Robert Xie, Case 18 Bruce Lehrmann | 1 Comment