When ‘she said’ removes safeguards of the law

Posted on January 10, 2021 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

It is not the first time that police have recklessly charged and detained an innocent man on child sex abuse related charges, just on the say-so of an accuser. Evidence would be a good start … (Most recently we reported on the case of John Fleming – and Cardinal Pell) This case highlights the urgent need for reforming the current process that effectively denies the accused any safeguards, with terrible consequences for them – and a waste of public resources. (In February 2019 we reported on Daniel Jones, and in September 2020 on the Cook family’s extraordinary ordeal. And let’s not forget ‘Paul’…) Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 8 Comments

Something rotten with Australian justice

Posted on January 3, 2021 by andrew

Recent events in Australia give little cause for optimism that we have either a clean, efficient and effective criminal justice system or an incorruptible and just policing regime, writes DR AUGUSTO ZIMMERMAN in Quadrant (3/1/21), as he deconstructs the appalling travesty of the John Fleming case in South Australia. And sees “something rotten with Australian justice more broadly”.  Continue reading →

Posted in Case 15 John Fleming | 5 Comments

The dingo took over my life – book review

Posted on January 2, 2021 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

Journalist Malcolm Brown managed to irritate both sides: the Northern Territory Police (and Government) as well as Stuart Tipple, the lawyer for Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, which makes the two men ideal co-authors of Tipple’s journey through the history-making case of 9-week old Azaria Chamberlain’s 1980 disappearance at Ayers Rock (Uluru) and Lindy Chamberlain’s wrongful conviction of her murder.  Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 5 Comments

A year of blunders – 2020 in review

Posted on December 20, 2020 by andrew

Tunnel-vision-blighted police investigations, junk science as evidence, prosecutors ‘impermissibly straining for a conviction’ (as Justice Fullerton has put it) and judges failing to adhere to the rule of law are all causes of blunders resulting in wrongful convictions and failed appeals. We reported on several of such blunders during the year; here is our Year in Review.  Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

New Year hopes for old injustices

Posted on December 17, 2020 by andrew

Andrew L. Urban.

Should we call them mis-convicted murderers, perhaps, those poor unfortunate souls who have suffered the catastrophe of a wrongful conviction? As we prepare to leave 2020 behind and look across time into 2021, we must hope along with them that the criminal justice system will correct those wrongful convictions, in many cases far too long after the verdict was delivered.  Continue reading →

Posted in General articles | 8 Comments

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 →

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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 →

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