[LINK] ethics above the law?

Adam Todd link at todd.inoz.com
Mon Feb 12 22:44:12 AEDT 2007


Wow, more Darren Hinch types!

Rare in this world.  Most are too scared to stand up for ethics.

Like many of those police who graduate from Goulburn recently.  Failing 
their Ethics and Weapons training gives rise to speculation that ultimately 
many shoot themselves in the foot, figuratively and literally.

On a sad note.  There is speculation that the probationary constable who 
shot himself at Sutherland's "Shop Front" station in the last month, found 
it so hard to deal with the unethical demands that were placed on him in 
relation to doing his job.

Even today, the SMH published a story about Police abuse of witnesses:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/police-made-me-lie-against-catt/2007/02/11/1171128816470.html

February 12, 2007

A witness has revealed she gave false evidence under threat of being 
charged with a murder conspiracy. Wendy Bacon reports.

ON AUGUST 10 last year, the NSW Labor member for Illawarra, Marianne 
Saliba, met her constituent Roseanne Catt, who is campaigning for 
compensation for the 10 years she spent in jail for conspiracy to murder 
her husband and other offences, which were quashed in 2005.

At Ms Saliba's suggestion, they met at Cafe J in Shellharbour. As they were 
talking, Ms Saliba saw a woman approach and tap Ms Catt on the shoulder. 
"Mum, I thought I would never find you again," the woman cried as she 
hugged Ms Catt. The woman was the cafe's chef, Tracy Taylor.

Ms Taylor later told the Herald she was overjoyed to see Ms Catt, whom she 
had called "Mum" as her own mother died when she was five. "Roseanne gave 
me a job and taught me to cook when I left school," she said. At that time 
they both lived in Taree.

But Ms Taylor was afraid Ms Catt would not talk to her now, because they 
had not met since Ms Taylor gave evidence for the Crown in the 1991 trial 
in which Ms Catt was convicted of attempted poisoning, conspiracy to murder 
and other offences against her former husband, the Taree mechanic Barry 
Catt. Ms Taylor later told the Herald about the circumstances in which she 
gave her evidence, and in December she signed an affidavit, which Ms Catt 
has forwarded to the Attorney-General, Bob Debus.

It states: "Parts of the evidence I gave at the trial are not truthful. I 
went along with the police because I was frightened. I am very sorry for 
any harm that was caused but I had no one to help or advise me."

At the time of Ms Catt's arrest in 1989, Ms Taylor, then 24, had moved to 
Queensland. The first she knew of it was when two detectives arrived at her 
home at Ingham in 1990 and took her to the police station. "They said I was 
a prostitute and that Roseanne was the madam and that I was the one who 
kept the guns," her statement says. "I said I knew nothing about guns. I 
had never seen Roseanne with a gun. They also said I was going to be 
charged with conspiring to murder Barry Catt."

She adds: "I was threatened into signing a statement that was not mine. I 
was terrified 
 I feared for my life and my baby's life."

Like many other witnesses, her evidence was not a major part of the case 
but supported the Crown contention that Ms Catt had tried to poison Mr 
Catt. She says her false evidence included that Ms Catt had encouraged her 
to baffle and confuse Barry Catt into making admissions of sexual abuse.

In his 2004 report to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, the Acting District 
Court judge Tom Davidson found a detective and others may have framed Ms 
Catt on the attempted poisoning charge. This conviction was among six of 
eight quashed.

Sending Ms Taylor's affidavit to Mr Debus on February 1, Ms Catt wrote: 
"This is compelling fresh evidence that 
 there has been a grave 
miscarriage of justice, where witnesses were forced to give false evidence."

Last week the Herald asked Mr Debus what action he proposed to take. He is 
yet to reply.

Ms Taylor said when she met Ms Catt at the cafe, she knew nothing of what 
had happened, including the quashing of her convictions. Had the Crown 
contacted her, she would have been prepared to give evidence for Ms Catt at 
the appeal.

Last October Ms Saliba told Parliament of the dramatic meeting between the 
women. She called for authorities to compensate Ms Catt for the "horrific 
injustice".



At 09:45 PM 12/02/2007, Kim Holburn wrote:
>http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1846038.htm
>
>>Journalists plead guilty to contempt in federal leak case
>>
>>Two journalists have pleaded guilty to contempt for refusing to
>>reveal their source of a leaked story on proposed cuts to war
>>veterans' benefits.
>>
>>News Corp journalists Gerard Harvey and Gerard McManus have pleaded
>>guilty in the Melbourne County Court for refusing to disclose who
>>leaked documents to them in 2004.
>>
>>The documents detailed the Federal Government's plan to slash
>>payments to war veterans.
>>
>>They refused to give evidence in the pre-trial hearing of public
>>servant Desmond Kelly, who was found guilty of leaking confidential
>>information, a conviction later quashed by the Court of Appeal.
>>
>>Lawyer William Houghton, QC, today asked the judge not to punish
>>the journalists, saying it would deter future whistleblowers.
>>
>>But Judge Rozenes accused the journalists of putting their ethics
>>above the law, and asked how any court is expected to tolerate that.
>
>He admitted the journalists acted ethically?
>
>>He will hand down his decision at a later date.





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