Thanks for the legal explanations, nowvoyager. Much appreciated!
Maybe you can help me understand something else (slightly O/T from Tostee):
Regarding the GBC case: I've never understood why the public was able to purchase Allison's autopsy report and all of those transcripts of police interviews plus the phone records etc.
I'm glad that we could - it was super helpful in bringing truth to light - but I'd not known that those kinds of docs were ever made available to the public (but then, I know very little about the legal side of crime, so maybe that's normal......).
Is that, indeed, standard practice?
Thanks :seeya:
It doesn't really seem right, does it. A victim becomes a victim a second time in a sense.
To my knowledge this only happens through the bail application procedure. Because that is handled by a judge (or a magistrate if its a less serious crime that doesn't have to be dealt with by the Supreme Court or a District Court), the application is usually done on written material only, so there can be witness statements, but the witnesses themselves don't actually appear.
In the GBC case you may recall he made two applications for bail, and both were knocked back. I think because the case relied so heavily on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution threw everything they thought was relevant into the material they used to oppose bail. Hence they produced, as exhibits to affidavits by the police, transcripts of statements and affidavits they had from witnesses, forensic reports, phone records, the lot.
You might remember that WS set up a special thread so that the bail documents and exhibits could be shown separately - some had been read by members and then some were purchased by members.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?202113-Bail-Hearing-Documents-*No-Discussion*
To find out what documents have been filed, you need to locate the number of the matter and there is an on-line Court facility search for that
http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/information-for-lawyers/search-civil-files-ecourts
If you entered in GBC's name you can then locate the two bail applications. I don't know if these links will work, but the first one lists all the documents that were filed in the first application
http://apps.courts.qld.gov.au/esear...Location=BRISB&Court=SUPRE&Filenumber=5260/12
and then the second bail application made in December
http://apps.courts.qld.gov.au/esear...ocation=BRISB&Court=SUPRE&Filenumber=11307/12
from there, you can order up the file (unless it has been subject to a suppression order) and view the documents for a fee, or order copies of them for a larger fee.
The same wouldn't apply to the actual committal or trial as those are criminal cases not civil cases. I mean in the sense that some of the evidence remains the property of the Crown.
There are cases where some of the material would be "suppressed" to protect a victim, even the identity of the alleged offender as that might lead to identification of the victim. Those are usually cases where there is some sexual element and particularly so if the victim is a child.
That suppression might amount to the court being closed so that testimony is only given in front of the judge and jury etc. Or that if the public (including media) are attending, they not report the results anywhere.
There was one awful case in Qld a year or so ago where a young girl was duped into going to a "friend"s house and tortured and indecently dealt with by the "friend's" parents. Just horrible. Even the judge cried when he sentenced them and he ordered that the case and all the evidence be sealed and never opened, so the girl would never have to re-live the ordeal through details being exposed.
In other cases, transcripts of the cases as they proceed in court are taken, and generally initially made available to each side if the case goes longer than a day, so they don't have to rely on their memories for what witnesses said etc.
It is sometimes possible to purchase the transcript, though it can be an expensive procedure.
http://www.auscript.com/justice/courts-and-tribunals/queensland-courts/
Sorry, a bit long-winded