Can someone speak to why the legal help is hired now? Is it a coincidence or is it influenced by the phone being found?
One of the irritating things about life is, some things are not plainly laid out!. I would like to attempt to speak to why, on a purely amateur basis.
What we do not know... ( to start with ) Yes, it was announced on Monday, that Mr P Galbally was his barrister. The announcement was a delightful obscurity in that it did not say, how long has he been his barrister, exactly when he was appointed, ( this is crucial info, IMO ), who is paying, and the article made no reference to the finding of the phone as related to his appointment.
So, we do not know if Galbally was appointed by the court. This is entirely possible, Mr S is entitled to representation and since it is a Supreme Court trial ( murder always is) he requires a Supreme Court qualified barrister. We, the taxpayer fund this, for anyone in this situation. You, the taxpayer would foot the bill for me. .
The roster for this assignment is always secret, even the barristers don't know, but they are not allowed to refuse. The first cab off the rank rule , rules. If it is this case he got a lucky draw, because Paul is Barrister of the Year, no small label.
If this is the scenario, the mystery remains as to why it has taken so long for a barrister to be appointed, if the appointment was on Monday. If it was months back , why the secrecy? It's a reasonable question.
It is difficult to believe that the announcement, on the heels of the phone finding is not related. It may not be, but my money is on , it is.
Deeply related, This is 8 weeks out from trial and the axis has somewhat shifted, in so far as a small unravelling of the murder with potentially huge and fast unravelling looming up , that a possibly new date for the summary hearing may be coming up.
It is difficult to believe that Patrick Stephenson, a 22 yr old electrician apprentice, can cough up Paul's fees. So someone else is paying, if this is a private hire, and not an assigned hire.
I do not think even his father and mother would have the collateral for what may be a very prolonged legal stoush,.
One thing I would offer is, it would be pointless hiring Galbally if you are going to plead guilty. If you've been assigned Galbally, it would be equally pointless, so I expect a not guilty plea and let the chips fall where they may.
It will not faze the very very savvy Barristers who work for the Dept. of Public Prosecutors, though, this is meat and beer to them, just a days work, the Galbally frere know this very well, it is not an unequal contest, by any means.