Dr Robert Moles - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Dr Robert Moles Networked Knowledge

I am here today with my fellow researcher and author:

Bibi Sangha Associate Professor of Law, Flinders University of South Australia

Please bear in mind the following:

The UK Lord Chief Justice said that the prospect of an innocent person being wrongly convicted of a serious crime would be a

catastrophic failure

of the legal system – we agree Slide2

Networked Knowledge and MOJs

Our broader strategy is to investigate, report, publish and change the law on miscarriages of justice and “institutional errors”

Australia – Britain - Canada – international comparisons can be very helpful

see:

Forensic Investigations and Miscarriages of Justice

:

The Rhetoric Meets the Reality

, 2010

We also specialise in Australian cases

see

Miscarriages of Justice: Criminal Appeals and the Rule of Law in Australia

2015

“Institutional errors”: those which

caused

the miscarriage of justice - and those which

prevented or delayed

their recognitionSlide3

Prevent delays – be informed

Why does it take so long to overturn cases involving basic errors?

See Derek

Bentley

– Mahmood

Mattan

– George

Kelly

– Timothy

Evans

all cases in the UK

All 4 were hanged around 1950. Each case involved basic errors. Yet it took around 50 years for the convictions to be overturned

We want to assist with the development of courses in forensic science, forensic psychology and law in relation to MOJs

Chapters of the book

A State of Injustice

which may be helpful

chap 1 -

the criminal justice system

chap 2 -

police and forensic science procedures

chap 3 -

autopsy procedures

chap 4 -

general medical issues in criminal investigations

Slide4

Miscarriages of Justice: Australia

Today’s focus is to examine Australian cases – with a special focus on those in South Australia.

Historically two of the most important cases have been:

Edward Splatt

– convicted of the savage murder of an elderly woman at her home in 1978. A Royal Commission led to overturning of his conviction in 1984.

Lindy Chamberlain

– convicted of the murder of her young baby in the outback in 1982. In 1987 a Royal Commission said the conviction was unsafe.

Most MOJ cases involve shocking situations – public alarm – an arrest reassuring

in both of these cases there were many experts

most of who made errors

all errors favoured the prosecution case

Each of the following cases has a ‘homepage’ which includes a pamphlet (brief overview), law reports, media reports. In each of these cases I have also provided a detailed summary of the Royal Commission reports. Slide5

Edward Splatt 1978 - 1984

See the Edward Splatt homepage

– includes the full text of

Flawed Forensics

by Tom Mann

Sexual assault, strangulation and murder of 77 year old woman in bedroom at her home

Splatt had never been seen at or near the crime scene

The only evidence against him was “circumstantial” and “scientific” evidence

The Edmond

Locard

principle says that “every contact leaves a trace”

Paint, foam, wood and seed particles found at the scene

Over 20 experts gave evidence at the 11 day trial

The Royal Commission sat for 196

hearing days

every expert had made errors

the decimal point in the wind calculations was in the wrong place

evidence was found in trouser

turnups

but the trousers were too small for Mr Splatt to wear

the investigator had dual roles as policeman and scientist – tunnel vision Slide6

Lindy Chamberlain 1982- 1987

Murdered her infant child Azaria by cutting her throat in the front seat of her car, whilst she was with other children at a barbecue in the outback

She claimed a dingo (wild dog) had taken the baby

Over 20 samples of foetal blood found in car resulting from “arterial spray” and confirmed by 3 independent experts

Hairs found in the tent were cat rather than dog hairs

Experts said that dingo not able to bite and drag baby away or cut clothing

Baby jacket found near a dingo den – led to the establishment of the Commission

The Royal Commission found that all the experts who gave evidence at trial had made errors

“Foetal blood” not blood – sound deadener from under the wheel arch

Hairs were most likely dog hairs – dingo quite capable of carrying baby away - its teeth could cut clothing Slide7

Missed opportunity to learn from errors

The Commissions had made important findings about frequency of scientific errors

They identified ‘procedural irregularities’ in recording and interpretation of scientific data.

They had established the vulnerability of “scientific” and “expert witnesses” to error and misinterpretation.

They recommended the establishment of a National Institute of Forensic Science – independently of the police.

Yet, even today we find that

The Australian NIFS

is established by - and under the control of - all the Police Commissioners of Australia and New Zealand. It is clearly not independent of the police.

The National Academy of Sciences report - 96% of expert witnesses overstate the significance of their findings

See the

Forensic Homepage

for other cases and issues on forensic scienceSlide8

The South Australian Cases

Dr Colin Manock – Chief Forensic Pathologist 1968 – 1985

Frits Van Beelen – murder of a young girl - 1972

David Szach – murder of a criminal lawyer - 1979

Emily Perry – attempted murder of husband - 1981

Derek Bromley – murder of man by drowning – 1984

Terry Akritidis – death by suicide - 1990

Gerald Warren / Peter Marshall – accidents confused with murder – 1992

Baby Deaths (3) natural causes confused with murder – 1995

Henry Keogh – murder confused with accident – 1995

See “

Institutional Reform

” article Flinders Law Journal 1995

See

ABC program “Expert Witness

” October 2001 – transcript with link to video

See

full list of television and radio programs

– 103 so far Slide9

Dr Manock - problems well known

See

Dr Manock Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 5

1968 - Appointed Chief Pathologist – no qualifications in forensic pathology

1973-1978 he sued over attempts to appoint a senior director in FP

State said - he was

not qualified to certify cause of death

- not trained in histopathology – examining tissue slides under the microscope

State said -

he had no expert qualifications

– which meant he could not give expert evidence in court proceedings -

see transcript

1978 – he conducted an “autopsy” in public – clearly an illegal act (

program

)

1981 – In

R v Perry

the High Court of Australia said his evidence “not admissible” – he was “not an expert”

1985 – Coroner said he was wrong / incompetent / dishonest (baby deaths cases)

Why was he allowed to go on to conduct 10,000 autopsies? All will have to be reviewed

Why was he allowed to give expert evidence in over 400 criminal cases? All will have to be overturnedSlide10

Frits Van Beelen 1972

See the

Van Beelen Homepage

-

A State of Injustice

chapter 5

Convicted in 1972 of the rape and murder of school girl at beach – served 17 years

Time of death based on visual inspection of stomach contents – the Appeal Court has accepted it had no scientific basis to it. Time of death is often of crucial significance

The judges disagreed whether the conviction should be overturned

Listed for hearing by the High Court on 10 Feb 2017

Additional problems:

The finding of the working radio – inconsistent with the Crown case – it was below the high-water mark – high tide long after VB left the scene

A confession by another person was inconsistent with the Crown case – wrongly excluded by Manock – misunderstanding of bleeding and post-mortem injuries

This was Dr Manock’s first major caseSlide11

David Szach 1979

See the

David Szach Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 6

Murder of high profile criminal lawyer – Derrance Stevenson – Szach served 14 years

Body found in the freezer at his home / office

Manock said he could time death to within an hour by taking the core body temperature

Bernard Knight leading British expert says

in his report

: July 1994

Dr Manock’s calculations ‘speculative’ – ‘totally without foundation’ – ‘arbitrary’ – ‘snatched from the air’ – ‘invalid’

Dr Byron Collins a leading Australian expert says

in his report

: August 1994

Dr Manock’s calculations are totally unreliable and no reputable pathologist would support his view

Mr

Szach’s

appeal is being prepared – how now suffers from motor-neurone diseaseSlide12

Emily Perry 1981

See the

Emily Perry Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 7

Convicted of the attempted murder of husband by poisoning with arsenic – sentenced to 15 years hard labour – conviction overturned by High Court

Dr Manock had never examined Ken Perry – he worked from medical notes and said his coughs and other complaints were caused by the “malicious administration of arsenic”

One High Court judge said that Dr Manock’s evidence was “not fit to be taken into consideration”

He said that the prosecution should use people who are “substantially” and not just “nominally” experts in their field. Slide13

Derek Bromley 1984

See

Derek Bromley Homepage

– see

Bromley Petition to the Governor

See Bromley programs –

part one

and

part two

– transcripts with links to videos

Convicted of the murder of Stephen Docoza by beating him and throwing his body in the water where it remained for 5 days – he remains in prison after 34 years – 11 years beyond his non-parole period

Dr Manock described injuries as resulting from ‘kick’ ‘punch’ ‘drag along ground’ ‘blow from barbell’ – which matched witness description of fight

He said all injuries were pre-mortem not post-mortem

Body in river sinks – come into contact with debris – after 2 days build up of internal gasses – begins to float

Body will be damaged by boats and other objects in busy waterway

Cannot distinguish pre-mortem and post-mortem injuries owing to process of putrefaction (decay)

One of the eye-witnesses suffered from schizophrenia and experienced hallucinations on the night

Mr Bromley’s appeal is being heard early in 2017 – his conviction will be overturnedSlide14

Terry Akritidis 1990

See the

Terry Akritidis Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 9

Body found beside police telecommunications tower around 6pm

Autopsy took place at 8.15am – Dr Manock said he died 12 hours before his body undressed at autopsy

Another pathologist said he’d died 12 hours before his body was found

at 6am that day he had been in the custody of the local police

Fall distance – Manock asked 140 / 200 / 400 feet?

Tower was 150 feet tall

No photos of body at scene or autopsy – essential to identify process of lividity

Dr Manock said he’d committed suicide by jumping from tower

Hole in roof of adjacent building from force of impact – thick reinforced concrete

Dr Manock said his clothing would have prevented him from sustaining serious injuries

Is it possible that Mr Akritidis was murdered or accidentally killed and his body placed at the scene?Slide15

Gerald Warren 1992

See the

Gerald Warren Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 6

Gerald aged 15 was found dead on dirt track outside town in 1984

Niewdach and Ellis were convicted of his murder in 1992

Dr Manock initially said he died from accident – he fell a from moving vehicle whilst intoxicated – the marks on his body caused by his corduroy shorts

A subsequent confession revealed he had been beaten with threaded end of metal pipe and the vehicle driven over his body several times

Dr Manock said corduroy and metal pipes cause similar injury patterns

He said that falling from vehicle and driving vehicle over body cause similar injury patterns – ‘the physical forces in either scenario are very similar’

Without the confession this murder would never have been investigated – Gerald’s death would have been classified as accident caused by his recklessness.

The failure to convict is as much a miscarriage of justice as a wrongful convictionSlide16

Peter Marshall 1992

See

Peter Marshall Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 9

Found dead lying on floor beside his bed – blood pooling around his head

Dr Manock said he struck his head on bedside cabinet as he fell out of bed

Accidental death – body taken to mortuary – room was cleaned up

Body scan at autopsy revealed bullet hole in his head - bullet lodged in his brain

Could that have been identified at the scene?

Suspected “hit” – shot in the head through his open window

Possible drug deal gone wrong Slide17

Baby deaths 1995

See

the Baby Deaths Homepage

–

A State of Injustice

chap 10

Three babies aged 3 months – 9 months – 9 months – unrelated

Dr Manock said they had each died from bronchopneumonia

Basic lung infection – 1

st

year trainee could diagnose that easily

Coronial inquiry said none of them had bronchopneumonia

One baby had 15 broken ribs, 2 serious skull fractures, serious spinal fracture

Coroner said: Dr Manock’s autopsies achieved the opposite of their intended purpose – closed off inquiries instead of opening them up

Coroner said: Dr Manock appeared to have seen things which couldn’t be seen –signs of bronchopneumonia – and he gave answers to questions on oath which were not truthful

Coroner withheld his report on the baby deaths whilst Dr Manock gave evidence at the Keogh trial

See

27 October 2008 – submission to Auditor-General

– failure to investigate baby deaths – no one has been held responsible for these possible murders – they are not listed as unsolved crimesSlide18

Henry Keogh 1995

See

the Henry Keogh Homepage

–

A State of Injustice chap 11

–

chap 12

See also

Losing Their Grip – the case of Henry Keogh

Convicted of the murder of Anna Cheney, his fiancée, by forcible drowning in the domestic bath at their home

Dr Manock said bruises on leg were sign of handgrip – 3 outside 1 inside – black / white photos

He said lungs ‘heavy’ and contained water – clear sign of drowning

He said no mark on brain – conscious when immersed in water

All of that was wrong

On appeal in 2014 – four experts said it was an accidental death

Conviction overturned Dec 2014 –

nolle prosequi

entered Nov 2015

See

Keogh media reports

– see national

ABC program 8 Dec 2015

Channel 7 Keogh program 13 Nov 2015

(distressing image

of baby at 3.15)Slide19

The new statutory right of appeal 2013

See the

Appeal Issues Homepage

-

program on new appeal right

See book:

Miscarriages of Justice and Criminal Appeals in Australia

After conviction and unsuccessful appeal – no further right of access to the court – even where compelling evidence of wrongful conviction

Attorney-General may refer case to court – but matter of discretion

We said that was

a breach of international human rights

The Australian Human Rights Commission agreed with us

The South Australian Parliament legislated to create a new right of appeal

It was the first major change to the appeal rights in Australia in 100 years

The state of Tasmania

has also made a similar changeSlide20

A criminal cases review commission

See

NetK’s

CCRC Homepage

–

this is the UK CCRC Homepage

31 May 2016 ABC TV –Bibi Sangha on the need for a national CCRC

in Australia

A body independent of govt and the courts

With statutory powers to access information held by others

Investigate and review allegations of wrongful conviction

Refer successful cases to the appeal court for review

Since 1997 in the UK 412 convictions have been overturned which otherwise had exhausted all avenues of appeal

4 cases of people who have been hanged have been overturned (slide 3)

We will continue to press for a national CCRC to be established in Australia

We will also seek a Royal Commission into the South Australian wrongful conviction cases

I am keen to hear your questions – and thank you for inviting me to speak here today