A key piece of criminal justice infrastructure is missing

Posted on June 21, 2023 by andrew

Professor David Hamer and Dr Andrew Dyer from Sydney Law School explain why Kathleen Folbigg’s pardon points to the need for a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in Australia.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 17 Kathleen Folbigg, CCRC, General articles | 25 Comments

When pigs do fly: the Crown proved wrong in Folbigg case

Posted on June 18, 2023 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

At the murder trial of Kathleen Folbigg in 2003, prosecutor Mark Tedeschi compared the likelihood of four children in the same family dying of natural causes to pigs flying. It was the Crown’s alternative to relying on the discredited and inadmissible Meadows’ Law, a statistical formulation claiming that three or more such deaths must be regarded as murder. But Tedeschi’s pigs do fly, as demonstrated in the comprehensive 2021 submission by Folbigg’s barrister Dr Robert Cavanagh and solicitor Rhanee Rego – as confirmed by the results of the 2023 inquiry that exonerated Folbigg. Continue reading →

Posted in Case 17 Kathleen Folbigg | 9 Comments

Comment moderators in conflict with editorial at The Australian?

Posted on June 17, 2023 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

Are the gatekeepers of reader comments on The Australian – the moderators –  in ideological conflict with the editors?  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 18 Bruce Lehrmann, General articles | 3 Comments

A tendency to wrongful convictions?

Posted on June 12, 2023 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

Is justice served when a false accusation of sexual abuse is supported by another false accusation of sexual abuse and the court accepts the second accusation as tendency evidence proving wrongdoing? A preliminary assessment of his case suggests that is what happened to retired public servant Noel Greenaway, now 85, sentenced to 20 years jail just over three years ago. With a writing pad on his knees, he rages against his injustice from his cell. Our investigation continues.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 22 Noel Greenaway | 25 Comments

Sofronoff the empathic judge who does no ‘unnecessary harm’ – next task in Tasmania?

Posted on June 11, 2023 by andrew

“Walter Sofronoff is an extraordinary man, and an extraordinary judge, one whose empathy other judges should seek to emulate,” writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY in Canberra City News, as he reveals how often the legal profession falls short of that quality, in PART 1 of three consecutive columns in early June 2023. Selby quotes the treatment of Meaghan Vass in the Sue Neill-Fraser appeal as an example of a failure of empathy. In PART 2 he argues that her courage still matters and in PART 3 he suggests that Walter Sofronoff KC would be ideal to lead a wide ranging public inquiry into the case of Sue Neill-Fraser.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser | 10 Comments

Fiona Brown and the Lehrmann/Higgins fiasco: no good deed shall go unpunished

Posted on June 10, 2023 by andrew

Yet another front page of The Australian (Weekend, June 10/11, 2023) devoted almost entirely to the disastrous fallout from Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations and subsequent abandoned trial, reveals how staffer Fiona Brown’s good deeds didn’t go unpunished…  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 18 Bruce Lehrmann | 7 Comments

Bruce Lehrmann was ammunition for war on Morrison

Posted on June 8, 2023 by andrew

Channel 7’s Spotlight (June 4, 2023) interview with Bruce Lehrmann not only gave him a chance to firmly and publicly deny the rape allegations against him by Brittany Higgins, but revealed the plot in which he was the ammunition for the Higgins weapon against Morrison. “We’ve got him,” she boasts.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 18 Bruce Lehrmann | 14 Comments

Neill-Fraser supporters cite Folbigg pardon in call for inquiry

Posted on June 6, 2023 by andrew

Rosie Crumpton-Crook, President of the Neill-Fraser Support Group, today said in a statement to media that: “Supporters of Sue Neill-Fraser welcomed the news that Kathleen Folbigg had been pardoned, and we wish her well. The case of Susan Neill-Fraser in Tasmania should be the next to be resolved.” Continue reading →

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser | 19 Comments

Folbigg freed, not guilty beyond reasonable doubt, Academy of Science calls for CCRC

Posted on June 5, 2023 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban

A decision by the NSW Attorney-General that should have been made four years ago by his predecessor has seen Kathleen Folbigg freed this morning on being granted a pardon by the Governor, on the recommendation of the Attorney-General, Michael Daly.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 17 Kathleen Folbigg, CCRC | 15 Comments

Strategising a rape claim

Posted on June 5, 2023 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban

The public already knew that Bruce Lehrmann denies raping Brittany Higgins in Minister Linda Reynolds’ parliamentary office on March 23, 2019. He confidently confirmed his denial in Channel 7’s Spotlight with Liam Bartlett (Sunday, June 4, 2023). What was new was the amount of strategising that was undertaken by ‘Team Wilkinson’ prior to her Higgins interview on TEN’s The Project. Continue reading →

Posted in Case 18 Bruce Lehrmann | 4 Comments