Andrew L. Urban.
The tumultuous end (in March 2021) to the latest appeal* against her murder conviction by Sue Neill-Fraser, was detonated by an unfulfilled undertaking from Stuart Wright, the lawyer assigned to key witness Meaghan Vass. Vass complained to Tasmania’s Legal Profession Board, whose dismissal of it (three months later), reveals the dismissal to have been based on a disturbing mischaracterisation of the complaint. Continue reading
In the following letter, wrongfulconvictionsreport – with the support of several senior figures in the legal community – urges the Attorney General to consider establishing a Criminal Cases Review Commission, arguing valid reasons and outlining a practical formula. We hope to receive a positive response. Continue reading
Dr Bob Moles
Yesterday (June 1, 2021) it was announced by the High Court that Kathleen Folbigg has lodged an application for special leave to appeal. As a legal commentator and academic I am discussing with my students the significance of this course of action as follows: A concern is that this action might well delay Ms Folbigg’s release from prison by over a year. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
Former DPP Tim Ellis SC claimed Meaghan Vass was bullied, treated ferociously at trial; ironically enough, eleven years later it was Ellis’ successor Daryl Coates SC who, allegedly, did the bullying. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
After hearing the appeal against Sue Neill-Fraser’s controversial 2010 conviction of the 2009 murder of her partner Bob Chappell, the three judges walked out of No 1 court in Hobart’s Supreme Court on March 3, 2021, and into the waiting chamber of legal history, with the crux of the appeal echoing in their ears. And in ours … Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
National cabinet (that bastard child of the pandemic) has dumped the review by the nation’s Attorneys-General into junk science that was to lead to reforms in crucial evidence presented in courts. Continue reading
Following our exhaustive, 3-part examination of the case starting on April 23, 2021, now, 10 years after his arrest, we expose the cumulative injustice that was perpetrated on Robert Xie in the wake of a vicious attack that killed almost all of his wife’s family. This step-by-step deconstruction reveals in sharp relief how the administrators of justice pursued him and failed the law. Continue reading
We believe in the importance of comedy, and agree with writer, actor, philosopher Stephen Fry who once said, “It is easy to forget that the most important aspect of comedy, after all, its great saving grace, is its ambiguity. You can simultaneously laugh at a situation, and take it seriously.” Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
Tunnel vision compromised the police investigations into the deaths of Bob Chappell in Tasmania and five members of the Lin family in NSW (two of many examples), with Sue Neill-Fraser convicted of the former and Robert Xie convicted of the latter. Both wrongly, we firmly believe. It also happens in science, where it has another name: motivated reasoning. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban, Phillip Chapman
The conviction of Robert Xie for the blood-soaked, savage murder of five members of his wife’s family in 2009 – going against his alibi – took four trials, including the longest trial in NSW legal history for a single defendant, and over $1 million in costs to the taxpayer. In Part 1 we examined the judge’s role. The subsequent appeal (on 8 grounds) against the conviction was refused. In Part 2 we examined the role of the Appeal Court judges. In Part 3 we examine evidence that defies the conviction and thus supports the validity of Xie’s alibi. Continue reading