A man convicted of sexual offences who has nearly completed his non-parole period in jail may have to undergo a retrial because of alleged misbehaviour by jurors. The unusual case is being investigated by the sheriff of NSW.
Sue Neill-Fraser, in Risdon Prison for 9 1/2 years of a 23-year sentence for murdering her husband, has won her case in the Supreme Court of Tasmania for a new appeal before three senior judges, who may be drawn from outside the island state. Civil Liberties Australia was instrumental in securing the new law in Tasmania, passed in late 2015, that allowed her to appeal. She should be released from jail now,CLA believes, anticipating that she will be found to be as completely innocent of the crime as she has always said she wasCLA on Australia Day 2019 asked SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman for a Royal Commission into 400 convictions over 30 years based on faulty forensic evidence. She refused. But, the situation is identical to the ‘Lawyer X’ issue in Victoria, where a Royal Commission is inquiring into “illegal” evidence accepted by the courts. Here, author Andrew Urban and SA legal academic Dr Bob Moles explain why she must change her mind so that she abides by the rule of law.
Sometimes we forget that those who serve us 24/7 might also be doing it tough. Two recent major reports into the health/mental health and ‘injury’ management systems of first responders have raised serious and troubling questions about the quality and integrity of internal management and compensation arrangements, particularly in the NSW Police Force. Former Detective Sergeant Terry Flanders explains why ordinary citizens should be worried about and stand up for all ‘first responders’.
A former Tasmanian, and noted crime author, Robin Bowles brings a unique perspective to her skilfully crafted, disturbing and compelling new book on the Sue Neill-Fraser case. The third book on the wrongful conviction released in just six months, Bowles brings a different insight to the sorry saga, which is still being played out in the Tasmanian courts 10 years after Bob Chappell disappeared off a yacht, his body never found. All actors in this drama await judge Michael Brett’s imminent decision on whether the woman sentenced to 23 years jail will get another chance to appeal her innocence.