STORY: "David Eastman case back before the court for first time since his release," by Canberra Times reporter Christopher Knaus, published by The Age on August 31, 2014.
GIST: "David Eastman's murder case will come back before the court on Monday for the first time since he was released after 19 years behind bars. Eastman is facing the prospect of a retrial for the alleged 1989 assassination of ACT police chief Colin Stanley Winchester outside his Deakin home. The Director of Public Prosecutions is deciding whether it can and should try Eastman again over Mr Winchester's murder. That decision was left to the DPP when the ACT Supreme Court decided earlier this month to quash Eastman's conviction but order a retrial. The conviction was found to be unjust, mainly because of glaring flaws in the forensic evidence used against Eastman at his 1995 trial and incomplete disclosure of information to his defence..........If prosecutors do decide to push ahead with a trial, Eastman's lawyers can make an application to stay proceedings. They have previously argued that a fair trial is now impossible, given that witnesses are dead, forensic exhibits have been destroyed and more than 25 years have passed since the crime. Extensive media coverage could also make it difficult to find a jury free from prejudice. Acting Justice Brian Martin, head of the Eastman inquiry, described the prospect of a retrial as "not feasible and would not be fair" when he handed down his report in May. But the full bench of the ACT Supreme Court disagreed in its judgment quashing Eastman's conviction last month. "Weighing all the factors and considerations to which we have referred above, we have concluded that the interests of justice require that we order a retrial," the judges wrote."
The entire story can be found at:
GIST: "David Eastman's murder case will come back before the court on Monday for the first time since he was released after 19 years behind bars. Eastman is facing the prospect of a retrial for the alleged 1989 assassination of ACT police chief Colin Stanley Winchester outside his Deakin home. The Director of Public Prosecutions is deciding whether it can and should try Eastman again over Mr Winchester's murder. That decision was left to the DPP when the ACT Supreme Court decided earlier this month to quash Eastman's conviction but order a retrial. The conviction was found to be unjust, mainly because of glaring flaws in the forensic evidence used against Eastman at his 1995 trial and incomplete disclosure of information to his defence..........If prosecutors do decide to push ahead with a trial, Eastman's lawyers can make an application to stay proceedings. They have previously argued that a fair trial is now impossible, given that witnesses are dead, forensic exhibits have been destroyed and more than 25 years have passed since the crime. Extensive media coverage could also make it difficult to find a jury free from prejudice. Acting Justice Brian Martin, head of the Eastman inquiry, described the prospect of a retrial as "not feasible and would not be fair" when he handed down his report in May. But the full bench of the ACT Supreme Court disagreed in its judgment quashing Eastman's conviction last month. "Weighing all the factors and considerations to which we have referred above, we have concluded that the interests of justice require that we order a retrial," the judges wrote."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.theage.com.au/act-news/david-eastman-case-back-before-the-court-for-first-time-since-his-release-20140831-10ajpn.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
