Andrew L. Urban.
If the three judges considering Sue Neill-Fraser’s appeal decide that Meaghan Vass’ DNA was there by secondary transfer (as the Crown argues) and thus she was not at the crime scene on board Four Winds … they have to accept the logical conclusion of their decision: the homeless young Vass took enormous risks by willingly inserting herself into the case after the trial … for what? Continue reading
This week 11 years ago, Sue Neill-Fraser entered the witness box to give evidence at her trial for murdering Bob Chappell. This week also marks seven months since her latest appeal hearings before the judges (Wood, Escourt, Pearce) who are yet to deliver their decision. Continue reading
To mark International Wrongful Conviction Day, Harold Levy *, publisher of The Charles Smith Blog in Toronto, invited Dr Bob Moles of Flinders University in Adelaide to provide his insights into the case of Derek Bromley, which, he says, features “the most disturbing feature” of any wrongful conviction in the Anglosphere. (Also see our post marking the day, October 2 – yesterday Australian time.) Continue reading
International Wrongful Conviction Day began as an effort of the Innocence Network in the US, an affiliation of organisations dedicated to providing pro-bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted, working to redress the causes of wrongful convictions, and supporting the exonerated after they are freed. This is the eighth annual day. Continue reading
The inside story of the troubled inmate who befriended Sue Neill-Fraser ‘inside’ – and how the police used her. Continue reading
The Etter/Selby papers reveal ‘what a difference a dinghy makes’ in the 2010 Sue Neill-Fraser murder trial – and how at the 2021 appeal, the DPP insists that the grey dinghy described by an eye witness turns white on the water. And it shrinks… (Paragraph numbers refer to the Etter/Selby papers dated August 12, 2021.) Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
The entire Tasmanian legal and law enforcement establishment is under the cloud of the 2010 Sue Neill-Fraser murder conviction, which many claim is not proven beyond reasonable doubt. Continue reading
The following excerpt from the Etter/Selby papers reveals how the jury, the defence and the judge were all misled at the murder trial of Sue Neill-Fraser in 2010 by the eye witness testimony describing a dinghy alongside Four Winds (crime scene), which was incorrectly presented to the jury and omitted critical details; a handwritten police note. (Paragraph numbers refer to the papers dated August 11, 2021.) Continue reading
Partners and other family members are the first people of interest in criminal investigations – and often rightly so. But when the justice system fails and the accused is innocent, the wrongful conviction vastly increases the impact of the punishment. What can be done to avoid – or at least minimise – such MoJs? Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
The best first thing that could happen in the criminal justice system is the rending apart of the police from the forensic services around the country, and the establishment of a full scale national forensic institute. The courts would benefit from more reliable forensic evidence. Continue reading