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A state of Injustice - Dr Robert N Moles

Copyright and Acknowledgments

A state of Injustice: table of contents
Also by Dr Moles - Losing Their Grip - The Case of Henry Keogh - Definition and Rule in Legal Theory

A state of Injustice, Robert N Moles
Thomas C. Lothian Pty Ltd, 132, Albert Road, South Melbourne, 3205
Copyright Robert Moles 2004
First Published 2004
Reprinted 2004
ISBN 0 7344 0597 9

This book is dedicated to Ranjit.

"If guilt can be established, it should be established to the extent to which the system is capable. If innocent people are to be exculpated, then no questions should remain about the thoroughness of the investigation which might throw a doubt upon their innocence."
Mr Wayne Chivell, The Coroner for South Australia, Finding of Inquest into the deaths of Storm Don Ernie Deane, William Anthony Barnard, Joshua Clive Nottle 25 August 1995.

Acknowledgements

Throughout this book I have decided to use the inclusive ‘we’ as opposed to the solitary ‘I’ because of the way in which it speaks of the author as a person supported by a very dedicated team of people who have been essential to its creation.

Robert Sheehan has been the researcher who initiated the inquiries and brought the issues to the attention of others. We now call him “The Ferret” because of his dogged determination – and the fact that he disappears down every burrow.

Dr Tony Thomas has worked extensively in his own time assisting us to get to grips with the technical issues involved in anatomical pathology. He has worked with us at great length on the sections dealing with autopsies and medical issues, as well as in the discussion of the cases. He is a man of great compassion and understanding.

Dr Harry Harding has been a key forensic scientist in South Australia. He believes strongly that standards must be improved and that the public must be informed. Every page of this book has been subjected to his exacting scrutiny and his demands for improvement to them. He has reordered and rewritten many sections to enable me to see more clearly what it was that I really wanted to say.

Arlyn Tombleson is a chiropractor and an early campaigner on these issues, being involved as he was in the Chamberlain and Van Beelen and Perry cases. He has provided us with much mental and physical therapy, and we are grateful to him for it.

David Cook is a senior police officer in the United Kingdom. Despite his very heavy case load of murder investigations in the London area, he has still found time to enable us to benefit from his knowledge and experience. It was he who first alerted us to the experience of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in the United Kingdom. In this electronic age, he inspires us to think more positively about the benefits of international collaboration, and we thank him for his contribution to it.

David Fuller, my old school friend, has very sensibly been a ‘scene-of-crimes’ officer with the Norfolk Constabulary in the United Kingdom. He has kindly provided much advice and guidance to me in the writing of sections dealing with police procedures.

Kevin Borick QC and Chris Patterson (solicitor) are the legal representatives of Henry Keogh. They have given substantial support to all of the work which this book represents and have become outspoken advocates for a review of the criminal justice system in South Australia.

We have had the privilege to work with journalists of considerable note. Lin Buckfield (producer) and Sally Neighbour (reporter) with the ABC 4 Corners program first brought these issues to the attention of a national audience in Australia in 2001 with their story “Expert Witness’.  Graham Archer (producer) and Rohan Wenn (reporter) of the Channel 7 Today Tonight program in Adelaide have completed a number of programs to further inform their South Australian viewers. They have all worked with consummate skill and judgment in putting together programs of considerable public interest on these issues. Their fearless devotion to the public interest has given us great encouragement to proceed with our work.

Much encouragement has been provided to us by Michael Parker in London. Pam Seaborn, our literary agent, and Averill Chase as commissioning editor of Lothian Books have given great support to this endeavour. Julie Stanton (editor) has worked wonders with the text. Sharon Mullins from Lothian Books has pushed through the publishing stage with great skill. We are indeed grateful to you all.

Above all, I must pay tribute to my wife Bibi Sangha. As law lecturer and co-researcher, she has carefully scrutinised all of the materials from which we have worked, and she has played a crucial and indispensable role in the formulation of the material that is presented here. In addition, she has had to bear the emotional turmoil to which work of this nature inevitably gives rise. If it had not been for her intellectual and emotional support, this task would never have been accomplished.

Finally, I must acknowledge the debt that we have to all of the people and families whose lives are the subject of the following chapters. They are the people who have had to bear the unspeakable burden of injustice. They have had to pay the price which is inevitably exacted every time the justice system fails to achieve its noble goals. I hope that in some small measure, this book will help to restore to them the dignity that was their due.

Bob Moles, Adelaide, 2004

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