By Andrew L. Urban
Saturday, January 25, 2014: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Tas) became the first Tasmanian MP to speak out publicly about the controversial murder conviction of Sue Neill-Fraser, jailed in 2010 for 23 years. He spoke last Saturday morning at a protest rally outside Hobart’s Parliament House and said: “You cannot convict anyone in this country where there is any doubt. It’s as simple as that.”
By Andrew L. Urban
I may be unlearned in law, a lay man, but I don’t think I’m an intellectually lame man. I have been looking at the sentencing remarks in the controversial Sue Neill-Fraser case (about which I have written at great length) as a journalist. What strikes me about the sentencing remarks of Justice Blow (October 2010) is the apparent eagerness with which he has accepted the prosecution’s speculative and unproven case.
Here is a critical passage from the sentencing remarks, which goes a long way to reveal His Honour’s willingness to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt on matters which are quite evidently in doubt.
By Andrew L. Urban
A murder conviction which eminent lawyers and legal experts say is quite possibly a gross miscarriage of justice has exposed serious deficiencies in Australia’s criminal justice system. Not only are the restrictive and limited appeal provisions in contravention of Australia’s international human rights obligations, but innocent people can be jailed for long terms – with no further right of appeal.
“The criminal trial and the criminal appeal system is not operating correctly,” says Dr Robert Moles, former Associate Professor of Law, who has investigated alleged miscarriages of justice for 14 years, and is a joint author of Forensic Investigations and Miscarriages of Justice, (Irwin Law, Toronto, 2010).
By Andrew L. Urban
As Sue Neill-Fraser contemplates her fifth prison Christmas ‘feast’ at Hobart’s Risdon jail, we should take a moment from the celebrations to reflect on how Tasmania’s criminal system appears to have failed in her case, according to many, including eminent lawyers and legal experts. And it isn’t just Neill-Fraser who suffers: the case has profoundly undermined confidence in Tasmania’s criminal justice system.
By Dr Bob Moles*
OVERVIEW
The criminal appeal system in Tasmania is in breach of international human rights obligations – and has been so for over 30 years. Most people would think that if that were so, someone would have noticed it and done something about it. Also, if it transpired that a major criminal conviction (the case of Sue Neill-Fraser) was contrary to reason, common-sense and the law, one might think that it would be quickly sent back to the courts for review. Neither of those things has happened yet. To understand why, we need to place the case into a broader context.
Dear Brian Wightman, Attorney General of Tasmania
cc The Hon Lara Giddings MP, Premiere of Tasmania
Thank you for your letter dated September 16 (received by email October 1), in response to my concerns about the murder conviction of Sue Neill-Fraser. Please note that I am writing to you as a concerned citizen and a keen observer of democracy. I am not a ‘supporter’ of Neill-Fraser; what I do support is the notion of justice that Australians should be able to enjoy full confidence in the justice system.
Dear Attorney,
You will have received an invitation from Barbara Etter APM to the only Sydney screening of Shadow of Doubt (Nov. 5, 6.30pm, Chauvel Cinema, Paddington), the award winning 80 minute documentary by Melbourne filmmaker Eve Ash exploring the murder conviction of Sue Neill-Fraser. The screening will be followed by a discussion which I will moderate, involving Chester Porter QC, Barbara Etter APM and filmmaker Eve Ash. The audience will include invited guests with a special interest in our justice system viz its failure to correct miscarriages of justice, which is a distinct possibility in the case of Sue Neill-Fraser as explored in Shadow of Doubt.
By Andrew L. Urban
It is four years now that Sue Neill-Fraser has been in custody for a murder she vehemently denies and evidence for which is at best circumstantial. On August 20, 2009, Neill-Fraser was arrested on the charge of murdering her partner of 18 years, Bob Chappell, aboard their jointly owned yacht, Four Winds, anchored in Hobart’s Sandy Bay, on Australia Day 2009.
She is helping to grow vegetables in the prison garden at Risdon jail in Hobart, where she will celebrate her 60th birthday on March 3 next year. Her original sentence of 26 years was reduced on appeal to 23. Sarah Bowles, Sue Neill-Fraser’s daughter, says her mother is coping “but she’s living in the belief that she won’t be staying in prison …” Sarah and her sister Emma both visit, both with their months old babies, but the joy of seeing her granddaughters turns bittersweet when it’s time to leave, says Sarah.