By Andrew L. Urban.
Troubling questions remain unanswered eight years after the trial in which Sue Neill-Fraser (now 64) was convicted of murdering her partner Bob Chappell, which she has always strenuously denied; she is now seeking leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, under new legislation. Here are just five of those questions. And a sixth question: why not welcome a thorough new review of the case?
Former Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings officially launched Andrew L. Urban’s, Murder by the Prosecution (Wilkinson Publishing) on September 6, 2018 at Fullers Bookshop in Hobart, calling for the establishment of a Criminal Cases Review Commission and stating that the provisions of new, further right to appeal legislation “set the bar too high” to be truly effective in delivering justice.
By Andrew L. Urban
Calling for the urgent establishment of a Criminal Cases Review Commission in Tasmania, former Tasmanian Premier and shadow Attorney General Lara Giddings officially launched my book on Thursday, September 6, 2018, to a full house at Fullers Bookshop in Hobart; Sarah Bowles (daughter of Sue Neill-Fraser whose case makes up the bulk of the book) spoke of the ongoing trauma endured by the entire family since her mother’s arrest in August 2009.
In the wake of Justice Fullerton’s judgement (10/8/2018) that saw Gordon Wood’s claim for malicious prosecution against the State of NSW fail, Andrew L. Urban examines crucial parts of the judgement and finds them troubling.
It could be argued that Justice Fullerton’s judgement came as close as possible to a verdict for the plaintiff (Wood) without crossing the line to actually do so. Here is the argument for that view:
By Andrew L. Urban
In a cruel coincidence, Sue Neill-Fraser will attend the Supreme Court in Hobart for the final hearing seeking leave to appeal her conviction of murdering Bob Chappell, from Tuesday, August 21, 2018; a day after the ninth anniversary of her arrest. Whatever Justice Michael Brett’s decision, it will set off a chain of events impossible to foreshadow – and which will echo through legal history.
By Andrew L. Urban
Although Justice Fullerton offers serious criticisms of now retired Senior prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC’s ‘disingenuous’ behaviour at the 2012 trial, and the reasons for her decision at 500 pages make up the equivalent of a book, none of that will satisfy either Gordon Wood nor any of the critics of her decision to deliver a verdict in favour of the defendants, the State of NSW. Wood was hoping his malicious prosecution suit would further vindicate his successful appeal against his murder conviction. To complete the catastrophe for Wood, he has to pay all costs. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban’s new book, Murder by the Prosecution, is now available for pre-order from Wilkinson Publishing Exposing some grave mistakes in Australia’s not-so-trustworthy criminal justice system, film critic-turned activist journalist Andrew L. Urban recounts how his life is changed when he is drawn into the field of wrongful convictions after reviewing a documentary about the case of Hobart grandmother, Sue Neill-Fraser, convicted of murder … without evidence.
By Andrew L. Urban
By the evening of Australia Day 2009 in Hobart, the blustery wind was calming down and the fine day was turning into a balmy summer night. Helen set out for an 80th birthday party at a friend’s house. Her daughter’s splendid new yacht, Four Winds, was moored some 500 metres offshore in full view from the front windows of her house on Marieville Esplanade. By early next morning, Four Winds would be taking on water and her daughter’s partner was missing from the yacht.
Derek Bromley was convicted of murder in 1984, wrongfully, in the opinion of several legal experts; now, his latest appeal (June 2018) flounders when South Australia’s appeal court “fundamentally failed to pay due regard to the rule of law and to the well-established principles governing criminal appeals,” according to legal academics Dr Bob Moles and Bibi Sangha. “The principles espoused in the Bromley decision are not only contrary to established authority but have never before appeared in any legal judgment in Australia, Britain or Canada.”
Moles and Sangha have issued the following briefing note on this latest legal catastrophe in Adelaide, which amounts to a second wrongful conviction of Derek Bromley, already in prison for 35 years.
Andrew L. Urban
It is disturbing when a crime reporter gets crime reporting wrong, as did Rochelle Jackson on ABC Radio’s Nightlife with Suzanna Hill on June 28, 2018, talking about one of the most important and controversial legal cases currently before the courts: the Sue Neil-Fraser case.
In flagrant disregard of the facts, Jackson misled listeners on a number of issues.