Accused toddler killer Mussie Debresay acquitted of manslaughter by appeal judges
ABC Mews
BY DANNY TRAN
UPDATED ABOUT 2 HOURS AGO (as at 18:40 AEST 21 September 2017)
'A Melbourne man who was found guilty of killing his girlfriend's toddler has had a manslaughter conviction quashed by Victoria's Court of Appeal.
The full bench of the Appeals Court found that there was no possible way the jury in Mussie Debresay's first trial could be sure beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty of killing the two-year-old girl.
"We think it impossible to exclude beyond reasonable doubt the reasonable hypothesis that [the girl's mother] caused the injuries," the judges said.
"We have concluded that the jury, acting reasonably, must have had a reasonable doubt as to the applicant's guilt.
"The verdict of manslaughter is thus unsafe and unsatisfactory and must be set aside. In our view, it simply was not open to the jury to convict the applicant."
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died from severe abdominal injuries on May 13, 2005, after sustaining blunt force trauma to her abdomen, which ruptured her organs.
She also had extensive injuries to her head, neck arms and legs and was taken to a medical clinic in Footscray where doctors and paramedics could not revive her.
Mr Debresay, who had been in a relationship with the girl's mother for about three months, was charged with murder more than a decade later a decision the judges described as remarkable.
Prosecutors argued Mr Debresay had killed the girl after she wet herself on a couch cushion.
Mr Debresay has long maintained his innocence, arguing the toddler had fallen off a couch in his living room and hit her head on the coffee table on the night before her death.
Witness riddled with 'inconsistencies and contradictions'
The prosecution's case hinged on the evidence of the girl's brother, who was four years old at the time and told police Mr Debresay had stomped on his sister.
An autopsy found the injuries the girl suffered were consistent with being stepped or stomped on.
Her brother, now 15, reiterated his testimony at Mr Debresay's manslaughter trial in 2016.
But the judges found that the boy's evidence under cross-examination was "riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions, and assertions that objectively could not be true".
"He said that from where he was on the couch he could not actually see [his sister] at the time when he said she was assaulted," the judges said.
A Melbourne man who was found guilty of killing his girlfriend's toddler has had a manslaughter conviction quashed by Victoria's Court of Appeal.
The full bench of the Appeals Court found that there was no possible way the jury in Mussie Debresay's first trial could be sure beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty of killing the two-year-old girl.
"We think it impossible to exclude beyond reasonable doubt the reasonable hypothesis that [the girl's mother] caused the injuries," the judges said.
"We have concluded that the jury, acting reasonably, must have had a reasonable doubt as to the applicant's guilt.
"The verdict of manslaughter is thus unsafe and unsatisfactory and must be set aside. In our view, it simply was not open to the jury to convict the applicant."
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died from severe abdominal injuries on May 13, 2005, after sustaining blunt force trauma to her abdomen, which ruptured her organs.
Murder accused Mussie Debresay
PHOTO Mussie Debresay was arrested a decade after the toddler's death.
ABC NEWS
She also had extensive injuries to her head, neck arms and legs and was taken to a medical clinic in Footscray where doctors and paramedics could not revive her.'
Read more at:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...ussie-debresay-acquitted-court-appeal/8967968
Related:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2016-...ty-of-manslaughter-over-toddler-death/7877888
