Misleading statements from the police or prosecution

[faithlilly]

What I find interesting from following a link to the quotation in your post https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2021/02/evidence-that-convinced-a-jury-of-luke-mitchells-guilt/ is that Mitchell was able to describe the murdered Jodi's clothing which had been stripped from her body and was lying scattered around.  Even down to the red scrunchie she was wearing in her hair although as she was lying on her back and the bauble at the base of her neck could not have been seen..
Snip
A search of the path indicated that Jodi had gone through the break in the wall with someone she knew as there was no indication of a struggle and Mitchell knew the area well.

When questioned he mentioned seeing a distinctive hair fastening which had not been readily visible and was able to name the type of tree near which the body was found, though this would have been difficult in the dark. Also his description of her clothing implied that he had seen her that day later than at school as he claimed.

Mitchell claimed not to have met up with Jodie ~ yet he knew exactly what she had been wearing when she was murdered ~ only her killer could have known that.

Not interesting at all. It helps to know in what interview Luke gave this information.

[faithlilly]

But today detective chief superintendent Craig Dobbie launched a vigorous defence of their detective work.

Mr Dobbie described the crime scene as one of the "finest I have ever seen".

He said that every care was taken to recover every single piece of evidence that was there.

And he defended claims made in court that the scene was not well managed.

Mr Dobbie admitted that the case against Luke Mitchell was purely circumstantial, but insisted Lothian and Borders Police Force had done a great job.

"We have been scrutinised by one of the finest defence lawyers in the country, but not one point has been inadmissible.
"I am open to suggestions as to where we could have made improvements in the investigation, but I can’t think of anything obvious."
https://www.scotsman.com/news/clues-snared-murderer-2470415


It is quite often a bit of a task to cherry pick the areas of a mixture of quotes and a journalist's paraphrasing to arrive at an unbiased conclusion.

For example Dobbie said "finest I have ever seen".  But I really would have preferred to have seen the rest of that sentence which would have allowed me to make up my own mind about what was actually said.

The salient point you are making regarding 'falsehoods or half-truths coming from the police or prosecution’ has been addressed elsewhere in the full article which paints a different picture from the one you have chosen to portray is without a doubt - "We have been scrutinised by one of the finest defence lawyers in the country, but not one point has been inadmissible."
So the police actually did manage to make a case which stood up in court to close scrutiny.  Which is very probably the reason that not one of Mitchell and his supporters attempts to overturn it have themselves stood up to scrutiny.

Can you never just stick to the point? Does every one of your posts have to be peppered by personal insults?

[Nicholas]

It is quite often a bit of a task to cherry pick the areas of a mixture of quotes and a journalist's paraphrasing to arrive at an unbiased conclusion.

For example Dobbie said "finest I have ever seen".  But I really would have preferred to have seen the rest of that sentence which would have allowed me to make up my own mind about what was actually said.

Does it read like the lyrics to a nirvana song

[Nicholas]

But today detective chief superintendent Craig Dobbie launched a vigorous defence of their detective work.

Mr Dobbie described the crime scene as one of the "finest I have ever seen".

He said that every care was taken to recover every single piece of evidence that was there.

And he defended claims made in court that the scene was not well managed.

Mr Dobbie admitted that the case against Luke Mitchell was purely circumstantial, but insisted Lothian and Borders Police Force had done a great job.

"We have been scrutinised by one of the finest defence lawyers in the country, but not one point has been inadmissible.
"I am open to suggestions as to where we could have made improvements in the investigation, but I can’t think of anything obvious."
https://www.scotsman.com/news/clues-snared-murderer-2470415


It is quite often a bit of a task to cherry pick the areas of a mixture of quotes and a journalist's paraphrasing to arrive at an unbiased conclusion.

For example Dobbie said "finest I have ever seen".  But I really would have preferred to have seen the rest of that sentence which would have allowed me to make up my own mind about what was actually said.

The salient point you are making regarding 'falsehoods or half-truths coming from the police or prosecution’ has been addressed elsewhere in the full article which paints a different picture from the one you have chosen to portray is without a doubt - "We have been scrutinised by one of the finest defence lawyers in the country, but not one point has been inadmissible."
So the police actually did manage to make a case which stood up in court to close scrutiny.  Which is very probably the reason that not one of Mitchell and his supporters attempts to overturn it have themselves stood up to scrutiny.

 

[Brietta]

I gave the citation to an article in the Scotsman in my opening post, with the title and date.  The author is listed as "The Newsroom." https://www.scotsman.com/news/clues-snared-murderer-2470415. I listed five statements that Mr. Dobbie made.  I would classify #3 and probably #1 as half-truths, and #5 as either false or a stunning indictment of the crime scene management that Mr. Dobbie has seen (YMMV).  I would put #2 and #4 into the category of being false.  Some of these topics could become the subjects of individual threads if they don't have threads already.  My primary point in beginning this thread is to show that some of the information that the public has been given is either wrong or misleading.  My secondary point is that much of the press has been unskeptical in its reporting.

I wholeheartedly agree that the Mitchell case is awash with lies and none more so than that the police did not apply due diligence - used mainly in conjunction with the despicable trait of casting suspicion on a number of named individuals in their turn using the pretext that the police had 'homed in' on Mitchell to the exclusion of all others.

Snip

But detective chief superintendent Craig Dobbie said the teenager was nothing more than a witness at the beginning of the investigation.

It wasn’t until inconsistencies emerged in his statements that he became a suspect.

He said they tried to eliminate him from their enquiries but "they just couldn’t".

Mr Dobbie, 53, said more than 3000 statements were taken throughout the course of the inquiry.

"We interviewed everyone possible," he said. "We interviewed every male who had been viewed with general suspicion.

"That group included any males known to Jodi - both relatives and friends.

"Luke was one, and, at first, he was no different from the rest of them. We were just trying to eliminate people from that group.

"It wasn’t until July 3 that our suspicions about Luke increased. We had a degree of suspicion, but not enough to detain him.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/clues-snared-murderer-2470415

[Nicholas]

I gave the citation to an article in the Scotsman in my opening post, with the title and date.  https://www.scotsman.com/news/clues-snared-murderer-2470415

Craig Dobbie also apparently said,


"However, we still had to be aware that Luke was providing a statement voluntarily and that he may have been deeply traumatised at the time."

The next day, Mr Dobbie asked for Mitchell to be interviewed again - this time under police caution.

"We made it clear he was under caution - it was only fair to him to do so. This was when he further entrenched his position.



So what did Luke Mitchell say exactly to the police?

Where can we read his police interviews in full?

[Brietta]

Does it read like the lyrics to a nirvana song

You would need to ask my son that ~ he's a bit of a fan ~ me, I know nothing about Nirvana 🙄

I'm sure Dobbie did say it but without the context of the rest of the sentence, it is impossible to evaluate it properly.

[Nicholas]

You would need to ask my son that ~ he's a bit of a fan ~ me, I know nothing about Nirvana 🙄

I'm sure Dobbie did say it but without the context of the rest of the sentence, it is impossible to evaluate it properly.

We have no idea what was omitted...

[Brietta]

Craig Dobbie also apparently said,


"However, we still had to be aware that Luke was providing a statement voluntarily and that he may have been deeply traumatised at the time."

The next day, Mr Dobbie asked for Mitchell to be interviewed again - this time under police caution.

"We made it clear he was under caution - it was only fair to him to do so. This was when he further entrenched his position.



So what did Luke Mitchell say exactly to the police?

Where can we read his police interviews in full?

I think that is why so much rubbish is in circulation regarding Mitchell's case ~ we just do not have access to accurate information so I think in many instances people just make it up in internet fora as they go along.

The best source of information I have found so far is from the transcripts of the appeals and judgements.  I haven't seen anything from the first trial except what is published in those and media reports.

[Nicholas]

I think that is why so much rubbish is in circulation regarding Mitchell's case ~ we just do not have access to accurate information so I think in many instances people just make it up in internet fora as they go along.

The best source of information I have found so far is from the transcripts of the appeals and judgements.  I haven't seen anything from the first trial except what is published in those and media reports.

The campaign is grounded in dishonesty and has all the hallmarks of innocence fraud

[Nicholas]

What happened to Sandra Lean’s podcasts re killer Matthew Hamlen?

Anyone know?

[Chris_Halkides]

But today detective chief superintendent Craig Dobbie launched a vigorous defence of their detective work.

Mr Dobbie described the crime scene as one of the "finest I have ever seen".

He said that every care was taken to recover every single piece of evidence that was there.

And he defended claims made in court that the scene was not well managed.

Mr Dobbie admitted that the case against Luke Mitchell was purely circumstantial, but insisted Lothian and Borders Police Force had done a great job.

"We have been scrutinised by one of the finest defence lawyers in the country, but not one point has been inadmissible.
"I am open to suggestions as to where we could have made improvements in the investigation, but I can’t think of anything obvious."
https://www.scotsman.com/news/clues-snared-murderer-2470415


It is quite often a bit of a task to cherry pick the areas of a mixture of quotes and a journalist's paraphrasing to arrive at an unbiased conclusion.

For example Dobbie said "finest I have ever seen".  But I really would have preferred to have seen the rest of that sentence which would have allowed me to make up my own mind about what was actually said.

I provided the citation so that anyone could check to make sure that I had not misquoted Mr. Dobbie (obviously I did not).  However, you left out a key passage in this article:

"Under questioning from Mr Findlay, Mr Scrimger was forced to admit that it was 'not an ideally managed crime scene from the very start'.  The forensic scientist said he believed that a tent should have been erected over the scene.  Mr Scrimger’s work was further delayed because an earlier female colleague had arrived at the scene, but could not get over the wall to get to the body because she had a bad back."

But it just gets more mind boggling.  I previously mentioned that I can find no indication that anyone attempted to determine the TOD forensically.  The Yorkshire dogs were not brought in until between 10 and 12 July, which was after the crime scene had been bleached.  Jodi's body was not covered until 8 AM, and her clothes were gathered by non-forensics personnel (I seem to recall that they were piled together).  There was a failure to take the clothing worn by the other members of the search party.

"But the investigators - now PIs with Integritas Investigative Solutions - say the crime scene was “terribly” managed." https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/6718910/luke-mitchell-jodi-jones-murder-police/

"But he [Mr Derek Scrimger agreed that if Jodi's clothing had been removed after death, it was likely the attacker would be bloodstained.  Questioned by defence QC Donald Findlay, he said the body and clothing should not have been moved before he got there." https://www.thefreelibrary.com/JODI'S+WRISTS+TIED+UP+WITH+TROUSERS%3B+Expert+tells+of+body+found+at...-a0126143100

Can you square Mr. Dobbie's statement with Mr Scrimger's testimony? 

[Nicholas]

I provided the citation so that anyone could check to make sure that I had not misquoted Mr. Dobbie (obviously I did not). 

How do you know whoever wrote it

The author is listed as "The Newsroom.

was accurate ?

And of you are for Luke Mitchell - aren’t you meant to ignore what the media have said?

[Nicholas]

"But he [Mr Derek Scrimger agreed that if Jodi's clothing had been removed after death, it was likely the attacker would be bloodstained.  Questioned by defence QC Donald Findlay, he said the body and clothing should not have been moved before he got there." https://www.thefreelibrary.com/JODI'S+WRISTS+TIED+UP+WITH+TROUSERS%3B+Expert+tells+of+body+found+at...-a0126143100

Derek Scrimger stated during the trial,

What many people fail to realise is that at the time of the assault there may not have been much blood there. There wouldn't necessarily be any blood on the assailant.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4096295.stm

[Nicholas]

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/JODI'S+WRISTS+TIED+UP+WITH+TROUSERS%3B+Expert+tells+of+body+found+at...-a0126143100

The above article also states,

Jodi's gran found her naked body on the Monday evening after her family launched a search.