Andrew L. Urban.
They have come to be known as The Baby Deaths. Three unrelated babies who died between October 1992 and August 1993 in Adelaide, were each victims of physical abuse but the State’s Chief Pathologist (1968 – 1995), the insufficiently qualified Dr Colin Manock, reported the cause of death in each case as natural: bronchopneumonia. It was the start of a 20 year chain reaction that began with a wrongful conviction which should have never happened. Continue reading
Invitation to readers of wrongfulconvictionsreport: please join Andrew for Movies Now, a series of six new movies prior to their commercial release, followed by a discussion with a film industry practitioner; Wednesdays from Feb. 5, 2020. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Juries are human. Fallible, often under stress, especially in trials of serious crime, collectively uninformed in law, forensic science or other relevant disciplines. Juries ingest what the prosecution and defence feeds them. Having served on a jury, I know from first hand experience how hard it is to sift evidence, to assess witnesses and to avoid the natural bias of the police, the pleadings of the accused and to weigh court theatrics against what the lawyers say are cold facts. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
There was no direct evidence that Robert Xie viciously murdered five members of his wife’s family in 2009, nor any credible circumstantial evidence. The appeal against his 2017 conviction has been delayed by the Crown, most recently in October this year (2019). This briefing is published to provide the public with information about the case which may be at odds with media-generated perceptions about the man and the murders. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Three men from Baltimore, US, who were sent to prison as teenagers for a murder they did not commit have been released after 36 years. And after overturning the convictions on November 26, 2019, “On behalf of the criminal justice system,” judge Charles Peters said, “I’m going to apologise.” Continue reading
The Queensland Supreme Court has determined that universities have no jurisdiction to adjudicate sexual assault, reports Bettina Arndt. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Victoria, as of November 14, 2019, has joined South Australia and Tasmania as states where a further right to appeal is now in place, subject to fresh and compelling evidence. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Three floors above the court room where 14 months earlier NSW Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Fullerton demolished Mark Tedeschi QC’s prosecution of Gordon Wood for being “disingenuous” and “impermissibly straining for a conviction” (for murder) yet dismissed the claim for malicious prosecution, Wood is appealing that decision. Continue reading
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