Author Topic: Barry George revisited.  (Read 167589 times)

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Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #990 on: January 29, 2020, 02:51:08 PM »

Michelle Diskin Bates is still attempting to disingenuously promote her brother Barry George’s ‘unsafe’ murder conviction

The distinguished speakers are:
Michelle Diskin-Bates
Author of Stand Against Injustice and Campaigner, Speaking about how she was affected by a miscarriage of justice as the sister of Barry George.

https://www.womenbarristers.com/miscarriages-of-justice-and-criminal-deportations-conference/

Found this random tweet telling https://mobile.twitter.com/Michelle_Diskin/status/1222521838934351874

excerpt from the book “Stand Against Injustice by Michelle Diskin Bates
“Someone highly educated and deemed worthy by dint of her expertise had viewed me and seen a real person, not the shadow I had become.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2020, 05:04:32 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #991 on: January 29, 2020, 03:22:53 PM »
How, on the day of Jill Dando’s murder, did Barry George know he looked “similar in appearance with her killer” if the police didn’t release the photofit until 4 days after?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1349115.stm

“If people saw me in Gowan Avenue, where she lived, before that day it was because my old doctor was there and not for any other reason. It was not because I was stalking Jill.

'At first when I was questioned I forgot the name of the road because I'd changed doctors. I didn't know that I'd been in Gowan Avenue -  but clearly I had.'
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/dando-murder-police-to-launch-cold-case-review-of-2100-original-suspects-6816041.html
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #992 on: January 29, 2020, 05:36:39 PM »
Hannah Quirk
‘The Count of Monte Cristo, To Kill a Mockingbird, 10 Rillington Place and The Shawshank Redemption are among the classics. Television programmes, The Court of Last Resort, Rough Justice and World in Action raised public awareness that mistakes can happen and uncovered some of the evidence that led to convictions being quashed. That all changed with the surprise popularity of TV documentaries such as Netflix’s Making a Murderer and The Staircase.

But what’s it like to work with law professors who are on the side of the wrongly accused and convicted in real life? King’s Reader in Criminal Law, Dr Hannah Quirk, has been closely following those cases by hosting a series of talks with the attorneys Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin from Making a Murderer and David Rudolf from The Staircase. Hannah recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where she took part in conversational events with the attorneys about the circumstances in which miscarriages occur. Here’s her story:

So, what’s it like interviewing the lawyers who have shot to fame by taking on these cases?

It is the closest I’ve ever got to being cool! Every night after the shows, there was a line of people wanting to meet them, talk about their cases and thank them for the work they are doing.

Even though my job was to facilitate the discussion, I shamelessly basked in the reflected kudos! But seriously, it was really inspiring to hear about their work. David is an attorney with a decades-long career representing people most in need of help in civil liberties and criminal cases. Steve and Laura show the best of what academics do: scholarly research, public and political engagement and inspiring students. It must be really odd for them to suddenly have people approaching them in the streets, but they are very gracious about it. A taxi driver refused to take the fare when he recognised Steve and Laura, so they gave him a ticket for the show. I am slightly obsessed with miscarriages of justice, so it was a dream job for me.

What sparked your interest in those cases?

Like millions of people across the world, I watched the first series of Making a Murderer over Christmas 2015. It told the story of Steven Avery. He had spent 18 years in prison for rape and attempted murder until the Innocence Project helped to prove his innocence. He was the first man to be exonerated in Illinois, America, by DNA testing. I already knew of his case because he filed a $36 million civil lawsuit against the county, but two years later he was arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach. As part of their investigations, the police interrogated Avery’s 16-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey, who confessed to helping his uncle commit the crime. He was fed the details by the police and clearly had no idea of what he had admitted to – when the interview finished, he asked the police if he could go back to school as he had a project to hand in. The programme was beautifully shot and structured, but was especially intriguing because, unlike previous programmes of this type, we do not know if Steven Avery is guilty or not.

I had already been gripped by the Serial podcast. I came to The Staircase a bit later and found it riveting for the insights into how the case was defended and the ‘did he/didn’t he’ puzzle. It was also a painful reminder of the human cost of these cases. The toll it took on Michael Peterson’s adopted daughters who had already lost their mothers was agonising to watch. The Staircase is unusual in that it shows a wealthy white man claiming to have been wrongly convicted. Far more of these cases involve poor people who cannot afford adequate legal representation and those from minority ethnic and underprivileged groups.

How did you get involved in both series?

Dean Strang and Jerry Buting (Steven Avery’s attorneys) did some shows over here a few years ago. They were looking for an academic working in the area to interview them and I jumped at the chance. My main research interest is miscarriages of justice. I used to work for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in Birmingham, the first state-funded body in the world set up to investigate claims of wrongful conviction. I did a few shows with them and carried on when Steve, Laura and David came over later.

In how far does the UK law system differ from the US?

In 2005, I spent six months working at the Innocence Project New Orleans, a non-profit organisation that works to free wrongly convicted life-sentenced prisoners in Mississippi and Louisiana, the state with the highest number of prisoners serving life without parole in the world. My plan was to compare how wrongful convictions are dealt with in England and Wales by the CCRC, and the USA but I realised, pretty much on the first day there, that there was too great a disparity.

Significant reforms were introduced in England and Wales, in part following high profile miscarriages of justice in the 1970s. Suspects are much better protected here now. Unlike in England and Wales, the Wisconsin police were allowed to arrest Brendan Dassey at school and to question him without an appropriate adult or lawyer. The police in America are also allowed to lie to suspects. They are trained to extract confessions using something called the ‘Reid Technique’. It is highly effective at gaining truthful confessions – but runs a high risk of eliciting false confessions too.

Mistakes happen in every system. For the most part, nobody working in the criminal justice system here wants errors to occur. The corruption cases we saw in the 1980s with units such as the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad seem to be a thing of the past, although convictions have been quashed recently due to allegations of tampering at a forensics laboratory. There are strict rules in place and much better training of police officers regarding their behaviour in interviews. Mistakes are much more likely to occur due to the budget cuts that the criminal justice system has experienced – a 20% cut in police funding, 30% for the CPS. Standards have fallen since the Forensic Science Service was closed. Some of the consequences are highlighted in The Secret Barrister’s surprise bestseller, Stories of the Law and How it is Broken

What can be learned from the cases?

It’s an important combination. For most people watching the shows it is just entertainment, but we have to remember that these are real people caught up in a system that reflects and represents us. I was struck by one of the questions we were asked one night which was, ‘what are the main characters doing now?’ as though it was a drama rather than a documentary. Steve Drizin has worked for years in helping the courts to understand the risks of false confessions through his academic work. We know that young people and those with learning difficulties are more likely to confess falsely. More states now have laws requiring interviews to be recorded and for juveniles to have ‘appropriate adults’ supporting them in interview – they all should have this. In a neat twist, Brendan’s confession was only filmed because the courts had ordered this to happen in a previous case Steve had won.

Society wise, these cases have launched miscarriages of justice back into the public consciousness. That gives a narrow window to use these shows to effect lasting change, some police training agencies are using Brendan Dassey’s interview as an example of how not to question a suspect.

The media focus has been on American cases. This year the Emmy awards recognised When They See Us, about the Central Park Five case, and a reminder of Donald Trump’s notorious advert in New York newspapers at the time, calling for the death penalty to be reinstated.

In the UK it is important we do not just think miscarriages of justice are something that happened a long time ago or only happen in America. For a long time, politicians thought that being ‘tough on crime’ was a vote winner and introduced policies that have made it harder to get a fair trial. Most people do not realise that anyone with an annual household disposable income of over about £22,000 will not qualify for legal aid in the magistrates’ court (£37,500 in the Crown Court). If they are acquitted, having paid possibly a five or six figure sum for legal representation, reimbursement will be at the much lower legal aid rates. This ‘innocence tax’ has seen acquitted defendants forced to exhaust their life savings and be forced to sell their homes. Another concern is that within a decade, it may be impossible to find a solicitor in some areas as firms are going out of business as criminal work is paid so badly and young solicitors cannot afford to enter or stay in the profession.

I have been fascinated by wrongful convictions for years. Making a Murderer has focused public attention on this topic in an unprecedented way, but interest will fade, and television companies will move onto the next issue. I hope people will want to know more about injustice. The Justice Gap carries lots of informative articles on the subject and how to campaign against it. Amnesty International has a campaigning guide for cases in other countries and the Innocence Project offers possible actions to take. Politicians need to hear from their constituents that we care about justice. Ask your MP if he or she is part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice.

Progress in the criminal justice system nearly always comes in the wake of public concern about miscarriages of justice. Hopefully Steve, Laura and David will be back for another tour with good news.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/when-fiction-turns-into-fact
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 12:46:12 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #993 on: January 29, 2020, 06:14:22 PM »
Blackburn's ordeal moulded him into a mass of contradictions’

This for me on its own is a red flag, however I’d like to hear Paul Blackburn’s thoughts on the exposure of Simon Halls guilt.

Would be interested to learn whether or not Paul Blackburn is/was monitored by the authorities after his murder conviction was deemed ‘unsafe’ by the Court of Appeal - this was and is the case for Barry George
« Last Edit: January 29, 2020, 06:18:19 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #994 on: January 29, 2020, 06:58:21 PM »
2020
Has anyone at the CCRC got the time, please?’

reads the header of an article written by Dr Michael Naughton, published today on (honorary Dr) Jon Robins Justice Gap website here https://www.thejusticegap.com/has-anyone-at-the-ccrc-got-the-time-please/

Dr Michael Naughton states,

I was astonished to learn earlier this week that the CCRC keeps no records at all on how much time that it spends working on cases’

Maybe he’s been too busy calculating and recording his own time?
2013
And the "thousands of hours" Bristol law students have spent on the Hall case, said Dr Naughton, could easily have been spent on "somebody else's case".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-23630287


Surely this would have flagged up during Carolyn Hoyle and Mai Sato’s ‘in-depth analysis of case files and interviews the authors scrutinize the Commission’s operational practices, its working rules and assumptions
https://ccrc.gov.uk/research-at-the-ccrc/published-research-on-the-ccrc/ or weren’t these questions asked?


REASONS TO DOUBT: WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS AND THE CRIMINAL CASES REVIEW COMMISSION

Excerpts:
“This book about the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is a treasure trove of information. Lawyers who represent applicants to the CCRC may find it especially of interest, offering insights that could help their work.

Carolyn Hoyle is professor of criminology in Oxford; Mai Sato is associate professor at the University of Reading. Their book is based on a four-year empirical study, both qualitative and quantitative, of decision-making by commissioners and staff, including 90 interviews, a staff survey and analysis of the CCRC’s internal guidance documents. A sample of 146 cases, some already closed, some ongoing during the research, was studied in detail. 

A principal focus of the book was to examine how the CCRC and its staff go about making the decision whether to investigate a case or to refer a case to the Court of Appeal (CA). The CCRC refers 1–4% of its approximately 1,400 applications per year and subjects just over half to full and thorough investigation.                                                                                           

Safety not innocence is the test
The authors emphasise that the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 requires the CCRC to refer to the Court cases that offer a real possibility that the conviction will be quashed. While the CCRC and its staff might be affected by whether they believed the applicant to be factually innocent, their focus therefore had to be on whether there was anything new which would enable the CA to find the conviction to be unsafe. That created unavoidable tensions with campaigners convinced that an applicant whose case had not been referred was innocent. The authors reject the suggestion that the CCRC’s reviews are mere safety checks (p323). One gets a clear sense of a determination to do the job as well as it can be done given the huge caseload and always inadequate resources.

When to refer?
The CCRC naturally closely followed the ebb and flow of CA decisions, adjusting its referral decisions to what it perceived to be the court’s approach to the real possibility test. But the authors detected ‘some evidence of shared deference to the court . . . that seemed to go beyond the legal mandate or matters of efficiency’ (p66).

What goes into decision-making?
Decisions to refer or not to refer were the result of a complex process, heavily involving discretion, which included the experience, expertise and personality of the individuals involved and their working assumptions. The legal position was only one of the factors. The authors draw throughout on Keith Hawkins’ theoretical framework of the process of decision-making in his Law as Last Resort (Oxford University Press, 2002), using Hawkins’ technical terms ‘field’, ‘surround’, and ‘frame’.

The CCRC naturally likes to think that it is consistent in its decision-making. When the researchers showed variability in decision-making, their data ‘were met with scepticism and defensiveness’ (p48). An applicant ‘would be alarmed to discover his case was assigned to a commissioner described by colleagues as “anti-applicant”, “a wildcard” or “very summary in instinct”—no doubt preferring a commissioner described as “exploratory”, “liberal” and “thorough”’ (p92).

But considerable efforts were made to improve consistency. Between 2011 and 2017, for instance, there were three changes in the way in which cases were screened. Until 2013, every case was screened in or out by a single commissioner. In 2013, staff group leaders were given responsibility for assisting commissioners and in 2017, case review managers (CRMs) too became involved in the screening out of cases. This ‘helps mitigate idiosyncratic decision-making by commissioners’ (p113).

Police misconduct unlikely to lead to a referral
The CA’s jurisprudence showing that it was unlikely to quash a conviction on the grounds just of police misconduct was reflected in the CCRC’s decision-making. Commission staff had sought to assure the authors that police misconduct (as opposed to incompetence or inefficiency) in fact was rare today. The authors suggest that the CCRC was ‘a little too complacent here in assuming that institutionalized corruption and misconduct by police is rare’ (p199). In any event, police and prosecution failure to disclose evidence was much more likely to cause miscarriages of justice.

A generous approach to allowing further submissions & reapplications
Applicants are advised about provisional decisions and can make further submissions. There is no limit to the number of reapplications. In a telling observation the authors suggest that this generous policy helps to maintain the CCRC’s legitimacy in the eyes of applicants—and even their representatives.

‘If we shift our focus away from the goal of the applicant—to have his or her case referred back to the court—and towards the bulk of the Commission’s cases, we recognise that it is not an organisation defined by its ability to refer cases. It is an organisation that deals primarily with closure. In this sense investing time and effort in providing procedural justice to applicants whose cases are turned down could be just as important, if not more so, than investing the resources on successful outcomes for a very few’ (p299).

Engagement with stakeholders, the media, other criminal justice institutions & applicants & their legal representatives
The authors trace the gradual development of the CCRC’s more outward-looking role. They welcome in particular its growing willingness to engage in critical reflection on shortcomings in the criminal justice system: ‘t is well placed to provide evidence of failings across the justice system and should not shy away from raising awareness and making recommendations’ (p326).

The final verdict
‘It would be nothing short of an own goal for critics to fight to remove the Commission from our struggling criminal justice system or for the government to fail to fund it adequately’ (p338).

Michael Zander QC is Emeritus Professor, LSE

https://www.newlawjournal.co.uk/content/book-review-reasons-to-doubt-wrongful-convictions-and-the-criminal-cases-review-commission

Almost two decades of research on miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions, and over a decade of direct engagements with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) with the Innocence Network UK (INUK) and the University of Bristol Innocence Project,
https://www.thejusticegap.com/please-forgive-me-but-i-wont-be-holding-my-breath/

Yet Dr Michael Naughton hasn’t recognised ‘innocent fraud’ being perpetuated in the UK. I don’t believe it!

Founder and Director
Dr Michael Naughton

Champions
Michael O’ Brien (one of three men who were wrongly convicted in the case known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three for the murder of Cardiff newsagent, Philip Saunders)

Michelle Bates (sister of Barry George who was wrongly convicted of the murder of British journalist, television presenter and newsreader, Jill Dando)

http://michaeljnaughton.com/?page_id=3707

Here’s Michael Zander QC from April 2012

https://www.thejusticegap.com/zander-on-the-ccrc/

« Last Edit: January 29, 2020, 08:03:43 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #995 on: January 30, 2020, 10:30:23 AM »
Mark Newby quotes “You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor “

Unless you are Michelle Diskin Bates patron to the Jeremy Bamber campaign

Dr Michael Naughton stated“she had no choice but to do as it was what God wanted”

Did ‘God’ also tell Michelle Diskin Bates to lie about having watched non existent nighttime TV back in 1985?

Further excerpt from Dr Michael Naughton’s foreword;

This may well explain another feature of the book which sets it apart from others of the same genre. Written with great integrity and without even a hint of self pity or hatred towards, or vengeance against those responsible for causing her brothers wrongful conviction or who played a part in preventing its overturn or are currently refusing him compensation. Michelle has a clear focus to simply tell the truth, warts and all.’

“For Michelle, it was a moral obligation that she could not turn away from in good conscience:”


From my viewpoint, her ‘moral conscience’ appears off-kilter, her ‘good conscience’ is highly questionable and her ‘moral obligation’ seems self serving as indeed does Michael Naughton’s.

Incidentally the ‘biblical definition’ of a hypocrite is ’a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

And did ‘god’ tell Michelle Diskin Bates, sister of Barry George, to ‘call out’ all those people who ask questions or hold opposing views and opinions to hers as ‘trolls’ ?

🎀 Michelle Diskin Bates 🎀
@Michelle_Diskin
Replying to
@AndrewS56773798
@JBamberFacebook
 and
@TheSun
Troll alert! You’re outed 🤗
12:53 AM · Jan 30, 2020·Twitter for iPad
https://mobile.twitter.com/Michelle_Diskin/status/1222684225138241543
« Last Edit: January 30, 2020, 10:33:24 AM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #996 on: January 30, 2020, 01:48:30 PM »
So instead he appears to have latched onto others cases using that same ‘ole chestnut, not dissimilar to what Sandra Lean appears to have done with cases like Matthew Hamlen etc

Empowering the Innocent (ETI)
@EmpowerInnocent
3h
So many problems & unanswered questions with the conviction of Robin Garbutt for the murder of his wife, Diana, yet the @ccrcupdate have so far rejected 2 applications. Let’s hope that it fares better with his 3rd. If Robin Garbutt is innocent the real murderer remains at large.

https://mobile.twitter.com/EmpowerInnocent/status/1220687788900786179

Doesn’t mean he hasn’t and appearances can be deceptive

Why doesn’t Michael Naughton tell Robin Garbutt and those campaigning for him to publicise the CCRC’s previous statements of reasons. Let the public be the judge.

Instead he appears to be leading people like hanksoff03 up the garden path and some of us know where that leads.

And here’s Barry George’s sister scaremongering with rumours of a possible serial killer on the loose and showing she too appears to have learned nothing from the Simon Hall fiasco

🎀 Michelle Diskin Bates 🎀
@Michelle_Diskin
1h
The real killer is still at large and my have killed again. #StandAgainstInjustice
Robin Garbutt submits third application for review of Melsonby post office murder charge | The Northern Echo

https://mobile.twitter.com/Michelle_Diskin/status/1222861251216318464

Robin Garbutt submits third application for review of Melsonby post office murder charge
“We have been supported by lawyers and journalists who believe, like us, that Robin was wrongfully convicted.”
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18196643.robin-garbutt-submits-third-application-review-melsonby-post-office-murder-charge/

The above article includes the ‘empowering the innocent’ photograph of Michael’s O’Brien and Naughton along with Michelle Diskin Bates

Dr Michael Naughton states via twitter
Empowering the Innocent (ETI)
@EmpowerInnocent
13 Jan
Great to hear. Alleged innocent victims of wrongful convictions like Robin Garbutt who have been rejected by the
@ccrcupdate are in the fight of their lives. They must be empowered to take control of their cases & use the media to pressure the system to give them justice
.

« Last Edit: January 30, 2020, 05:08:14 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #997 on: January 30, 2020, 03:06:44 PM »
In response to a tweet made by

APPEAL
@C4CrimAppeals
5h
Derek Bentley was innocent and hanged in 1953.
"What has our justice system learned from making the ultimate mistake? Can we be sure that it is capable of averting such catastrophes today?
The answer is absolutely not."
Us in
@TimesLaw
 this morning 👉

https://mobile.twitter.com/Michelle_Diskin/status/1222851696512192515

🎀 Michelle Diskin Bates 🎀
@Michelle_Diskin
Replying to
@C4CrimAppeals
 and
@TimesLaw
As we know nothing has changed, in fact there is an arrogance towards anyone who DARES to suggest otherwise. Sadly, it wouldn’t be all that hard to sort out, but it would need a change of heart first. Innocence has no place in our ‘Justice’ system, only who wins the chess game 😢

🎀 Michelle Diskin Bates 🎀
@Michelle_Diskin
Replying to
@Michelle_Diskin
 
@C4CrimAppeals
 and
@TimesLaw
We trusted in the great British justice system but look at what it did to us. Worse...it has since squashed us underfoot like annoying bugs. #nojustice here!
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #998 on: January 30, 2020, 03:35:00 PM »
 %56&
Scientists are a bit like lawyers then, each one potentially as useless as the next.

Couldn’t interest you in this then?

APPG on Miscarriages of Justice
@APPGMJ
Forensic Science and Miscarriages of Justice - 4 February 2020. The APPGMJ returns for 2020. 

Hear from:
@ProfRuthMorgan

Louise Shorter
@insidejusticeUK
 &
@ctmccartney
 
Prof Angela Gallop CBE
@ForensicAccess
 
Dr Gill Tully, Forensic Science Regulator
3:27 PM · Jan 30, 2020·Twitter Web App

APPG on Miscarriages of Justice
@APPGMJ
4m
Replying to
@APPGMJ
Forensic evidence can be key to wrongful convictions. After
@LordsSTCom
's 2019 report finding 'failings in the use of science in the criminal justice system', join the APPG and learn more. Chaired by
@hammersmithandy

16.30-18.15, CR16
@HouseofCommons
 
RSVP: alex@appeal.org.uk

https://mobile.twitter.com/APPGMJ/status/1222904192873816067

Angela Gallop assisted the defence in the Barry George case
(Angela Shaw NOT Angela Gallop assisted the defence in the Barry George case - Angela Gallops colleague Roger Robson also assisted the defence in the Barry George case

Angela Shaw = GSR expert in both ‘George’ cases
Angela Gallop = ‘principle author’ alongside Roger Robson who also worked on both the Barry George and Simon Hall cases re fibres https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/written-evidence-submitted-forensic-access-house-commons-dave-king
R v SIMON JOHN HALL  http://www.homepage-link.to/justice/Hall/index.html)


Gill Tully is the governments current Forensic Science Regulator https://www.gov.uk/government/people/gill-tully

I once wrote an open letter to the previous regulator, Andrew Rennison - in November 2013 he became a Commissioner at the CCRC

Five new Commissioners have been appointed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Chair of the Commission has been reappointed.

The newly appointed Commissioners are Alexandra Marks, Dr Sharon Persaud, David James Smith, Liz Calderbank and Andrew Rennison. Richard Foster CBE, who joined the Commission as Chair in November 2008, has been reappointed to serve for a further five years (see below for biographies of the Chair and each of the new Commissioners).

https://ccrc.gov.uk/five-new-commissioners-appointed-to-the-criminal-cases-review-commission/
« Last Edit: February 05, 2020, 05:29:30 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #999 on: January 31, 2020, 11:49:07 AM »
Dr Michael Naughton states via twitter
Empowering the Innocent (ETI)
@EmpowerInnocent
13 Jan
Great to hear. Alleged innocent victims of wrongful convictions like Robin Garbutt who have been rejected by the
@ccrcupdate are in the fight of their lives. They must be empowered to take control of their cases & use the media to pressure the system to give them justice


Hanksoff03
@hanksoff03
Freedom for http://RobinGarbuttOfficial.com -
@EmpowerInnocent in this article too : )

Empowering the Innocent (ETI)
@EmpowerInnocent
Well done, Jane! This is great for raising Robin’s profile and keeping pressure on the CCRC and hopes alive. Keep up the fantastic work!

Empowering the Innocent (ETI) Retweeted
Hanksoff03
@hanksoff03
13h
Thank you Michael...full of hope that the CCRC will this time see the truth + innocence of http://RobinGarbuttOfficial.com + swiftly get him to the CofA. Surely they`ll want2do the right thing+demonstrate their willingness2see justice no longer delayed on this tragic wrongful conviction

Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #1000 on: January 31, 2020, 01:00:22 PM »
‘I have been fascinated by wrongful convictions for years. Making a Murderer has focused public attention on this topic in an unprecedented way, but interest will fade, and television companies will move onto the next issue. I hope people will want to know more about injustice. The Justice Gap carries lots of informative articles on the subject and how to campaign against it. Amnesty International has a campaigning guide for cases in other countries and the Innocence Project offers possible actions to take. Politicians need to hear from their constituents that we care about justice. Ask your MP if he or she is part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice.

Progress in the criminal justice system nearly always comes in the wake of public concern about miscarriages of justice. Hopefully Steve, Laura and David will be back for another tour with good news.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/when-fiction-turns-into-fact

Steven A Drizin
@SDrizin
When fiction turns into fact | Feature from King's College London https://kcl.ac.uk/when-fiction-turns-into-fact#.XZuyk_7fMmI.twitter
@HannahQuirk1
 was our go-to moderator in England & the UK. Dr. Quirk's brilliant, funny, and fun to hang out with. She also knows an injustice when she sees one. #bringbrendanhome


Dr Hannah Quirk
@HannahQuirk1
Oct 8, 2019
Replying to
@SDrizin
Thanks so much Steve. Can I be moderator when you come over here to tell us how you got Brendan home?

https://mobile.twitter.com/SDrizin/status/1181326232023162880

Justice – and compensation – denied by new legislation by Hannah Quirk - April 2014

Excerpts:
‘Is a victim of a miscarriage of justice somebody, such as Stefan Kiszko who forensic evidence  proved was innocent of any involvement in the rape and murder of a schoolgirl? Or is it Sally Clarke, whose conviction for murdering her babies was quashed because of evidence which cast doubt on her conviction, but did not prove her innocence? Or is it Nicholas Mullen, whose conviction for running an IRA ‘bomb-factory’ was overturned because the government had acted unlawfully in extraditing him for trial?
Following legal challenges by those denied compensation, including Barry George, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of Jill Dando, the government is seeking to narrow the test. It argues that this change will bring clarity and save money. Opponents argue that it will be challenged in the courts and is wrong in principle.
The new test will define a miscarriage of justice as occurring when “if and only if the new or newly discovered fact shows beyond reasonable doubt that the person did not commit the offence.”
On the face of it, this is a straightforward test. The problem is that few of the most notorious miscarriages of justice would meet this standard of proof.
The Court of Appeal looks at the ‘safety’ of a conviction – it very rarely says that a successful appellant is innocent. Short of new DNA evidence, very few new facts will establish innocence – most will just make it impossible to be sure that the jury would have convicted.


“There is obviously a spectrum of harm when a conviction is overturned, but this could be reflected in the amount of compensation paid rather than making the scheme so narrow.
It is wrong in principle, and potentially contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights, to expect somebody to prove their innocence and it contravenes the separation of powers for politicians to decide if a person is innocent or not.
This latest legal change is a retrograde, mean-spirited and potentially unlawful measure. It will damage British justice and the individuals involved in these cases. As Lord Pannick expressed it so eloquently in the House of Lords debate: “[there is] nothing more likely to keep open the sore of a regrettable miscarriage of justice.”
http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/featured/2014/04/justice-and-compensation-denied-by-new-legislation/

Hannah Quirk appears to be suggesting in her tweet to Steven Drizin she holds a firm belief of innocence in his (Brendans) case further supported by the fact her name appears on his ‘pardon letter’ here https://patch.com/wisconsin/waukesha/full-list-250-who-signed-brendan-dassey-pardon-letter

Full List Of 250 Who Signed Brendan Dassey Pardon Letter
This week, attorneys representing Brendan Dassey say nearly 250 people – including a wide range of retired U.S. government officials and some of the nation's most prominent legal and political experts – wrote Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in support of Dassey's petition for executive clemency.

“Can I be moderator when you come over here to tell us how you got Brendan home?”

Though when it comes to UK cases she appears to not to want to openly commit herself; but why?

Regarding ‘Justice – and compensation – denied by new legislation’ Hannah Quirk concludes,

 ‘It will damage British justice and the individuals involved in these cases.’


But what exactly does she mean by this?

How will it ‘damage British justice’ ?

And who are the  ‘individuals involved in these cases’ referred to?

How has the Barry George’s ‘unsafe’ murder conviction damaged ‘British justice’ and what ‘harm’ has it caused ?
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 01:43:39 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #1001 on: January 31, 2020, 01:46:01 PM »
Hannah Quirk appears to be suggesting in her tweet to Steven Drizin she holds a firm belief of innocence in his (Brendans) case further supported by the fact her name appears on his ‘pardon letter’ here https://patch.com/wisconsin/waukesha/full-list-250-who-signed-brendan-dassey-pardon-letter

Full List Of 250 Who Signed Brendan Dassey Pardon Letter
This week, attorneys representing Brendan Dassey say nearly 250 people – including a wide range of retired U.S. government officials and some of the nation's most prominent legal and political experts – wrote Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in support of Dassey's petition for executive clemency.
Hannah Quirk:
I am an academic with a particular interest in miscarriages of justice. I look at how changes to the criminal law and criminal evidence increase the risk of wrongful convictions and how the criminal justice system then investigates and responds to such cases. I also have an interest in sentencing. I am an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. I sit on the editorial boards of The Criminal Law Review and Legal Studies. I am a trustee of Transform Justice and the Sentencing Academy. I regularly appear in the media discussing topical criminal justice issues.
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/hannah-quirk-22770230

Other names which appears alongside Hannah Quirks are:

Gisli Gudjonsson, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), Emeritus Professor, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London

and

Amanda Knox, Exoneree (Italy, 4 years in prison)
http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=628.0
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 02:26:48 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #1002 on: January 31, 2020, 02:33:41 PM »
Justice – and compensation – denied by new legislation by Hannah Quirk - April 2014

Excerpts:
‘Is a victim of a miscarriage of justice somebody, such as Stefan Kiszko who forensic evidence  proved was innocent of any involvement in the rape and murder of a schoolgirl? Or is it Sally Clarke, whose conviction for murdering her babies was quashed because of evidence which cast doubt on her conviction, but did not prove her innocence? Or is it Nicholas Mullen, whose conviction for running an IRA ‘bomb-factory’ was overturned because the government had acted unlawfully in extraditing him for trial?
Following legal challenges by those denied compensation, including Barry George, who was wrongly convicted of the murder of Jill Dando, the government is seeking to narrow the test. It argues that this change will bring clarity and save money. Opponents argue that it will be challenged in the courts and is wrong in principle.
The new test will define a miscarriage of justice as occurring when “if and only if the new or newly discovered fact shows beyond reasonable doubt that the person did not commit the offence.”
On the face of it, this is a straightforward test. The problem is that few of the most notorious miscarriages of justice would meet this standard of proof.
The Court of Appeal looks at the ‘safety’ of a conviction – it very rarely says that a successful appellant is innocent. Short of new DNA evidence, very few new facts will establish innocence – most will just make it impossible to be sure that the jury would have convicted.


“There is obviously a spectrum of harm when a conviction is overturned, but this could be reflected in the amount of compensation paid rather than making the scheme so narrow.
It is wrong in principle, and potentially contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights, to expect somebody to prove their innocence and it contravenes the separation of powers for politicians to decide if a person is innocent or not.
This latest legal change is a retrograde, mean-spirited and potentially unlawful measure. It will damage British justice and the individuals involved in these cases. As Lord Pannick expressed it so eloquently in the House of Lords debate: “[there is] nothing more likely to keep open the sore of a regrettable miscarriage of justice.”
http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/featured/2014/04/justice-and-compensation-denied-by-new-legislation/

The Supreme Court on Compensation for Miscarriages of Justice: Is it better that ten innocents are denied compensation than one guilty person receives it? by Hannah Quirk and Marny Requa
The Modern Law Review
Vol. 75, No. 3 (MAY 2012), pp. 387-400
Abstract:
The Supreme Court determined that a 'fresh approach' was needed in an attempt to bring some clarity to the issue of the eligibility for compensation of those who have had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. The definition that the majority agreed upon was that 'a new fact will show that a miscarriage of justice has occurred when it so undermines the evidence against the defendant that no conviction could possibly be based upon it'. This article argues that the judgment suffers from a failure to consider the purpose of the legislation; that it is unclear whether the test is normative or historical and that this presents a particular problem in cases relating to the Northern Ireland conflict. The Court focuses on the guilt of the appellant and excludes from its consideration any notion of culpability by the state, which is a cause for concern.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41682857?seq=1

What about cases where it appears not to be linked to the ‘culpability of the state’?
« Last Edit: January 31, 2020, 02:55:08 PM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #1003 on: February 01, 2020, 09:02:02 AM »
Who didn’t kill Jill Dando courtesy of Gunfire Graffiti (Updated - 3rd Jan 2020)

Excerpts:
We passed the 20th anniversary of the murder of journalist Jill Dando in April 2019. The lead Metropolitan Police investigator at the time, Detective Chief Inspector Hamish Campbell now believes that no new evidence will ever be found. He and his team are accused of, “not having the faintest idea”, who killed Jill Dando. Barry George, the “local nutter”, was set up. Nothing could be further from the truth. Campbell was sniped at by so called experts educated on a diet of crime fiction. Real world hitmen are not Bond and Bourne or the likes of Max von Sydow in the Sydney Pollack film, Three days of the Condor.

‘On the 19th March 2011 Sian O’Callaghan was reported missing in Swindon, Wiltshire. Her body was found on the 24th March. She had been murdered by a Swindon taxi driver, Christopher Halliwell. In the days prior to his arrest, Halliwell had affixed missing posters in the rear window of his car. An interesting behavioural trait that mirrored the actions of Barry George.

‘He continued an interest in firearms and shooting and had attempted to secure full membership with a London gun club but was unsuccessful. Clearly his mental illness issues were stopping him from ultimately succeeding but they weren’t preventing him from trying. He had sufficient cognitive aptitude and orientation to focus on and pursue his interests.

‘Perhaps Barry George was what we perceived and saw, his own creation; a hopeless lie, the dark masculine “hitman” perpetrator and then the targeted suspect turning himself into a hapless victim of injustice. But he can’t be both. We are all entitled to our opinions but we can’t invent our own facts.  Barry George continues to be a lost and tormented individual.

http://gunfire-graffiti.co.uk/who-didnt-kill-jill-dando/
« Last Edit: February 01, 2020, 09:23:35 AM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation

Offline Nicholas

Re: Barry George revisited.
« Reply #1004 on: February 01, 2020, 12:24:41 PM »
‘A jury at his second trial last year found him not guilty in a unanimous verdict and George was released and made the subject of a Mappa order
https://amp.theguardian.com/uk/2009/nov/29/barry-george-jill-dando?__twitter_impression=true

The paradox of Barry George’s ‘unsafe’ murder conviction

Gunfire Graffiti
‘Perhaps Barry George was what we perceived and saw, his own creation; a hopeless lie, the dark masculine “hitman” perpetrator and then the targeted suspect turning himself into a hapless victim of injustice.
http://gunfire-graffiti.co.uk/who-didnt-kill-jill-dando/
« Last Edit: February 05, 2020, 10:24:54 AM by Nicholas »
Who wants to take on this great massive lie?” Writer Martin Preib on the tsunami of innocence fraud sweeping our nation