The knife, bourbon can and cigarettes: Scott Austic miscarriage of justice
Posted Apr 6, 2022, 2:30 AM UTC
511
More a perversion of justice than a miscarriage.
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You think Austic is guilty?
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No, I think that planting evidence is perverting the course of justice. It is possible that the planted evidence was sufficient to support a conviction.
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Ahh, gotchya. I read your comment poorly and mistakenly thought you might have been the same muppet who commented on the last post about this case insisting that he is in fact guilty and that we're really just a bunch of racists. Nvm.
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Part two here: https://youtu.be/Lbt4wRUq-dI
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I saw parts of the opening to part 2 and decided to watch part 1 first. What stuck out at me from the part 2 opening was: how is is being presented as a strong initial case, even without the evidence being planted it was highly circumstantial.
And anyone stabbing would that type of knife is likely to also cut themselves
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how is is being presented as a strong initial case
Based on the "facts" as asserted at trial it was a fairly strong case. The blood-stained cigarettes were especially damaging to Austic.
It also appears as though he wasn't especially well defended: his alibi doesn't appear to have been argued particularly forcefully (if at all); he was allowed to be painted as a liar regarding his description of the clothing; that the burnt remnants of clothing from the fireplace could not have been worn on the night; that the actual clothes worn on the night were probably still in the house; that the alleged 10cm murder weapon (which didn't have his prints or DNA on it) could not have inflicted 15cm deep wounds (much less the fact that, like the Jim Beam can, it miraculously appeared after thorough searches), et al.
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Sounds very much like a ineffective council for the defence then.
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I watched this when it aired - deeply uncomfortable viewing.
TL;DW: A pregnant woman was murdered in 2007 in WA and the local police laid "miraculously quick" charges against Austic, with whom the deceased had a casual relationship. Austic was convicted of murder, spent 12 years inside. Turns out some of the key physical evidence against Austic was planted - presumably by the cops, although the reasons why are unclear. Austic has now been acquitted, but the WA police don't seem too interested in re-opening the investigation.
Snaps to Dr Hampson (a forensic pathologist and a lawyer) who looked into it and worked it all out, for free, at the urging of Austic's mother.
ABC news link
Deeply uncomfortable indeed.
Austic joins the disconcertingly long list of egregious abuses by WA Police: Andrew Mallard, John Button, Darryl Beamish, the Mickelbergs, Lance Williams (never charged but had his life destroyed). It's pathetic that there has never been a modicum of accountability for the relevant officers.
Not to take away from the excellent work that they've done, but we hit way above our weight in terms of miscarriages of justice.
Addit: the police still not offering any reward for information that leads to the apprehension of Ms Thorne's murderer is reprehensible and indefensible.
Desire for a quick and satisfying conclusion to a high-profile case?