Friday, August 5, 2016

David Eastman; Australia; Bulletin: The Canberra Times reports that his appeal to prevent the Colin Winchester murder retrial will be held in Canberra..." Mr Winchester was shot twice in the head as he got out of his car in his neighbour's Canberra driveway. Mr Eastman was tried and found guilty of murder in 1995, but an inquiry later exposed significant flaws with the forensic evidence used to link him to the crime scene." Reporter Megan Gorrey.


"Three Victorian Supreme Court judges will travel to Canberra to hear an appeal that could prevent David Eastman facing a retrial for the shooting death of ACT police chief Colin Winchester.
Mr Eastman is set to face a second jury after a stay application to permanently halt a retrial over Mr Winchester's January 1989 killing was thrown out of court in April.  His appeal against the decision not to stay his retrial is currently before the ACT Supreme Court. The case had previously been set down before the three interstate judges for five days from October 24. That hearing had looked likely to take place in Melbourne, but the court was told on Friday a decision had been made for the appeal to be heard in the ACT. The court heard the large number of documents involved in the case could be better managed from Canberra.  A judge for Mr Eastman's retrial is yet to be named. Mr Eastman was freed from jail in 2014 after serving nearly 19 years behind bars for the killing of Mr Winchester, who was assistant Federal Police commissioner at the time. Mr Winchester was shot twice in the head as he got out of his car in his neighbour's Canberra driveway. Mr Eastman was tried and found guilty of murder in 1995, but an inquiry later exposed significant flaws with the forensic evidence used to link  him to the crime scene. In a separate civil case, Mr Eastman is attempting to sue the ACT government for wrongful imprisonment."
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/david-eastmans-appeal-to-prevent-colin-winchester-murder-retrial-will-be-in-canberra-20160805-gqlsbq.html

See previous Canberra Times story  "explanation" of the Eastman inquiry at the link  below; "When Eastman was sentenced, the judge said the case involved "one of the most skilled, sophisticated and determined forensic investigations in the history of criminal investigation in Australia". That's almost laughable now. The work of expert Robert Collins Barnes, whose gunshot residue analysis provided a critical link between Eastman and the murder scene, has been almost completely debunked in the inquiry, losing nearly all credibility and reliability."
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/the-david-eastman-inquiry-explained-20140822-1073b1.html