More pressure to mitigate Manock harm

Posted on December 10, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

British author, journalist, and a consultant in forensic evidence, Satish C. Sekar, believes it is “only a question of time before a special inquiry is established” into the trail of unsafe forensic reports generated by Dr Colin Manock over his decades long tenure as Chief Forensic Pathologist in South Australia, not least the case of Derek Bromley, still in jail after 37 years. In a letter to the SA Attorney General Vickie Chapman, Sekar urges a proactive approach, echoing earlier calls.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 05 Derek Bromley | 4 Comments

Scott free

Posted on November 23, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban

After 13 years in jail, 45 year old Scott Austic has finally regained his freedom and his official innocence last week, when a WA jury acquitted him after two hours of deliberations. As we reported in May this year, Austic had lost his first appeal against his conviction for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Stacey Thorne, 35, Continue reading →

Posted in Case 14 Scott Austic | 11 Comments

Robert Farquharson – but did he want to die?

Posted on October 22, 2020 by andrew

Robert Farquharson was convicted of killing his three little boys by driving them into the dam and letting them drown inside the car. Farquharson insists he blacked out, it was a terrible accident. The prosecution insisted it was deliberate. But, if so, did he intend to die with them?  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 13 Robert Farquharson | 4 Comments

Road to Damnation – Excerpt 3 (final) ‘scientific expertise’ ?

Posted on October 21, 2020 by andrew

Chris Brook’s new book, Road to Damnation, is the result of a two year investigation into the case of Robert Farquharson, and the science of the evidence that convinced two sets of juries that he murdered his three children by drowning them in the family car in a dam, contrary to his claim of having blacked out and losing control of the vehicle. In this our third and final exclusive excerpt Brook exposes the failures of much ‘scientific expertise’. (See our preview of the book, Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2)  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 13 Robert Farquharson | Leave a comment

Road to Damnation – Excerpt 2 ‘An incubator of bias’

Posted on October 20, 2020 by andrew

Chris Brook’s new book, Road to Damnation, is the result of a two year investigation into the case of Robert Farquharson, and the science of the evidence that convinced two sets of juries that he murdered his three children by drowning them in the family car in a dam, contrary to his claim of having blacked out and losing control of the vehicle. In our second exclusive excerpt Brook finds the tyre marks evidence corrupted by bias. (See our preview of the book and Excerpt 1)  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 13 Robert Farquharson | Leave a comment

Road to Damnation Excerpt 1 ‘I blacked out’

Posted on October 18, 2020 by andrew

Chris Brook’s new book, Road to Damnation, is the result of his two year investigation into the case of Robert Farquharson, and the science of the evidence that convinced two sets of juries that he murdered his three children by drowning them in the family car in a dam, contrary to his claim of having blacked out and losing control of the vehicle. Our first exclusive excerpt sets the scene. (See our preview of the book.)  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 13 Robert Farquharson | Leave a comment

Road to Damnation follows the science to a wrongful conviction

Posted on October 15, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

In his important new book, Road to Damnation, Chris Brook takes the reader on a gripping journey to the darkest reaches of human experience – the drowning of three children – when it intersects with the law. Brook places the case of Robert Farquharson – their father – at the interface between law, science, society and psychology. We invite our readers to ‘hit the road’ in a series of extracts, starting next week. First, we preview the book, which is destined to be controversial.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 13 Robert Farquharson | 13 Comments

The knife, the wrench, the prosecutor and his prejudice

Posted on October 13, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban

An observer at the 2010 murder trial of Sue Neill-Fraser has confirmed that early in the trial, the prosecutor, then DPP Tim Ellis SC, held up a large knife – flourishing it inside a plastic bag as if it were evidence – eliciting a gasp from the court. But he never tendered it in evidence, leaving it lying (pun intended) on the bar table in front of him throughout the trial.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 01 Sue Neill-Fraser | 26 Comments

Dr Colin Manock and the Baby Deaths – Ch 9 Oct 14, 2020

Posted on October 12, 2020 by andrew

This Wednesday 14 October, at 8.40pm Channel 9 will broadcast ‘Bodies of Evidence’ as part of their Australian Crime Series. It will focus on the appalling failures in relation to the work of Dr Colin Manock, former chief forensic pathologist in South Australia for nearly 30 years. Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 4 Comments

Woeful quality control of expert/scientific testimony compromises justice system

Posted on October 9, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

Can we trust a criminal justice system that despite some five decades of complaints and dozens of miscarriages of justice, has failed to address the dangers of poor quality scientific evidence or help improve its reliability. If it were an airline, it would be grounded.  Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 6 Comments