Andrew L. Urban.
The worst possible failure of a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is to TWICE refuse to review a case on the request of the accused before DNA proves the accused was wrongfully convicted in the first place – 17 years earlier. And to repeat the refusals with another convicted applicant. (Mis)managing forensic information is at the heart of the failures. Should the CCRC UK sack its boss? Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
ANNIVERSARY OF SHAME: On February 4, 2015, nine years ago this weekend, the third trial began of Robert Xie for the brutal murder of five members of his wife’s family. Eleven months later, it became the longest criminal trial in NSW history involving a single accused, with more than 160 days of ‘evidence’ and at least $1 million of taxpayers’ money spent on running the case. It ended on December 2, 2015, with a hung jury. By then, Xie had spent four years and seven months in jail without a conviction. Continue reading
Marco Rusterholz is serving a 45 year jail sentence in Tasmania for a double murder, a conviction that is demonstrably unsafe. The trial judge, the jury and the appeal judges all failed in their respective duties to deliver justice. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Repeat child sex offenders would be subject to indefinite detention and potentially lifetime electronic monitoring under new laws that will be fast-tracked through South Australian state Parliament. Premier Peter Malinauskas described his government’s proposed amendments to the Sentencing Act 2017 as “the most draconian laws of their type anywhere in the country”. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
If you could do one thing as an Attorney-General that would profoundly improve the criminal appeal system and reinforce the separation of powers … why not do it? Why haven’t they done it? Will they do it? Continue reading
Speaking on camera from his New Hampshire prison, Fr Gordon MacRae details how unscrupulous claimants and lawyers can swindle the system out of hefty cash payouts with false claims of sexual abuse. He should know: it happened to him. That’s in America, but not ONLY in America … Readers can make their own deductions and assessments. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban.
Noel Greenaway, a model citizen of impeccable character in his late 70s, is convicted of 18 nasty sexual and physical abuse offences alleged to have occurred in the 1960s – half a century in the past – simply on the say-so of five middle aged women who were then juvenile delinquent inmates at an institution….who complained simultaneously but had never before mentioned any of it to anyone. Continue reading
Andrew L. Urban
Within the space of a couple of days this week, several voices were heard in the public square ‘resurrecting’ the late Cardinal Pell, dismissing the notion that he was guilty of sexual abuse, a notion that some maintained even after the High Court’s 7-0 decision to quash that conviction. Continue reading
Malevolent shenanigans behind the scenes in the Fr Gordon MacRae case, from withholding evidence to witness tampering…It seems justice took a holiday – and hasn’t returned. Fr Gordon, now 70, has been in New Hampshire Prison for Men in Concord, USA, since he was 41. Continue reading
False allegations, a corrupt detective, flawed judicial decisions … no wonder Father Gordon MacRae’s life has been ruined, sentenced to a 67 year jail term, after refusing a one year plea deal, wishing to maintain his innocence. Continue reading