Andrew L. Urban.
Gordon Wood’s appeal against his failed malicious prosecution bid last year begins in Sydney’s Supreme Court on Monday, November 18, 2019, in the shadow of a new book by former DPP Nicholas Cowdrey (Frank and Fearless, New South) in which Cowdrey refers to the Wood case and proposes that prosecutors are ‘supposed to push for convictions’. Continue reading
The High Court today (Wednesday, November 13, 2019) has granted leave for George Pell to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal which upheld his conviction in December last year on one charge of sexual penetration with a child under 16 and four counts of indecent act with, or in the presence of, a child under 16, relating to two separate incidents at the cathedral in 1996 and 1997.
The appeal will be held in early 2010.
See our previous reports for more on this case:
Onus of proof reversed
Dissenting voices
Conviction upheld
Justice Helen Wood has set the date for appeal against Sue Neill-Fraser’s murder conviction, for March 2 – 13, 2020, after DPP Darryl Coates estimated it would take two weeks; Neill-Fraser’s lawyer, Chris Carr, had estimated just 3 – 4 days. Continue reading
Would the woman dressed in black at Tamworth court on Wednesday, November 6, out on bail apparently, who gave my email address to the distraught mother of a man in police custody please make contact with me when she can. She is not in trouble for doing so, indeed, it seems to have been an act of support.
I can’t go into further details except to say the mother (let’s call her Jill), and her husband, hold grave fears for their son’s treatment within our legal system. They are certain of their son’s innocence and worry for his three young children.
I will follow this case as best I can. Anyone with further information is invited to contact me by email to andrew.urban@wrongfulconvictionsreport.org
As we have reported, the reliability of forensic evidence is increasingly questioned; and Shaken Baby Syndrome convictions rely on junk science and tunnel vision, writes Chris Brook* in this extract from his latest blog. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Within a single week in October this year (2019), the quality of forensic evidence tendered in criminal trials across Australia came under the microscope of public attention – and was found to be infected with the disease of unreliability. Continue reading
In seeking leave to appeal to the High Court, George Pell’s lawyers argue that the approach taken by the majority judges at his appeal required Pell to “establish actual innocence”, rather than “merely pointing to doubt”, which was a reversal of the onus and standard of proof, adding, “Rigid application of the onus and standard of proof in 21st-century sexual assault trials in Australia is of particular importance.” Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
The High Court in Canberra adjourned for just four minutes before resuming at 2.45pm on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, with a unanimous decision that Steven Fennell’s appeal against his murder conviction should be allowed. A verdict of acquittal was entered. “I was in my cell about to eat my yoghurt when prison officers came to the door and said, `you’re going’,” he told The Courier-Mail. Continue reading
Chris Brook.
Joby Rowe’s 2018 conviction for child homicide was based solely on forensic evidence that openly and overtly lacked any scientific basis, with expert opinions based instead on confession studies. This case raises fundamental questions for forensic science in Australia, primarily: should forensic evidence be scientific? Or should it appeal to authority? Continue reading
It happened around 4am on June 7, 2008. Sarah Ward had been drinking and smoking dope. She took a friend’s car and went out for cigarettes with another friend. The young musicians they came across that dark night in Christie Lane, St Leonards, Sydney, had also been drinking. The altercation that ensued left one of the young men dead and Ward convicted of his murder. A man and his sister have a history with the dead man and believe this is a wrongful conviction. They tell a story which challenges the one that convicted her. Anthony Nikolich & Helen Keys put the case for Sarah Ward. Continue reading