Ok here I go
Firstly here are 2 news updates on this mornings proceedings for all to read
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/the-rayney-trial-week-four--the-anniversary-of-corryns-death-20120807-23r8u.html
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/14482715/rayney-said-he-hated-his-wife/
I now fully appreciate what YN and FLossy said when they went along to the trial previously - there is a lot of information to absorb, It was also very tricky to hear a times, especially when one lady arrived carrying 3 or 4 bags and was wearing a coat that rustled every time she moved.
I started to take notes but stopped when I realised that some people who had decided to sit right next to me, were people whom I know - sprung!. I also noted there were at least 7 or 8 people in the public gallery, that work or have previously worked in the legal profession. I would estimate that in addition to the reporters who were seated in the jury seats, there were probably about 70 or 80 more people looking on. Keen to know if any other Websleuthers were there.
If I could have picked a witness testimony to hear in this trial, this was the one I would have picked first.
Clare O'Brien was be question via video conference from Qld. She confirmed that she started working at the DPP in 1993 and worked there until 2001 when she took long service leave and went to Japan to live after marrying her husband. THat marriage lasted about 15 months. She then moved back to Perth and started again working at the DPP but LR was be that time working in Bermuda. BY the time he came back from Bermuda she was working at Legal Aid in Bunbury. LR was admitted to the Bar in 2006 and she held him in the highest regard and referred 3 significant opportunities to him including Johnny Montani (the biker accused of killing an ex coffin cheater) and the opportunity to represent (former) police officer, John Brandham at the CCC inquiry into the wrongful imprisonment of Andrew Mallard.
In 2007 Corryn invited Clare to join her on a Practice committee which also involved Wayne Martin QC who is the now Chief Justice of WA. Shortly afterwards Clare and her then fiance Aaron Johanson were invited to lunch at the Rayneys where everything seemed to be hunky dory.
About 6 weeks later - LR called COB and told her all was not well in marriage and asked her advice about some emails he had received at work. He told her that the email made reference to something that wasn't true - that he was sleeping in the girls bedrooms. When she asked him if that was the case he said that of course it wasn't - he had been relegated to sleeping in a spare room at the back of the house. He asked COB why Corryn would be doing this - she suggested perhaps Corryn was setting up an email trail to apply pressure to him.
Two weeks later COB and LR had coffee together at e-cucina after attending the party at Patii Chongs new chambers. That's when LR told COB that he "hated" his wife and asked if she knew anyone who could install surveillance equipment. She got her brother to contact a friend and left LR's telephone number.
