BBC
From the article:
And trials before a lone judge are less likely to end in a conviction - judges, unlike juries, must explain their reasoning and tend to have a stricter definition of what constitutes reasonable doubt.
"For juries, the fact that you don't have to give reasons means that you go on your gut a bit more," Prof Gans says. "I always thought that a jury was likely to convict in this case but the judge was pretty unlikely to convict."
When the judge did convict Dawson, Prof Gans says he was surprised.
But, he adds, these kinds of verdicts are easier to appeal.
"You've got these reasons that you can attack, and Dawson has that benefit now."
Lawyers for Dawson have already indicated he is likely to appeal.
Verdict is an 'incredible relief'
In the "best case scenarios", true crime series have solved cold cases, exonerated wrongly imprisoned people and exposed misconduct by investigators and prosecutors, Prof Gans says.
And that is exactly what Mr Thomas says he set out to do.
"This idea that the legal [and] criminal justice system can just manage this and not miss anything is a furphy - it's a lie," he told The Australian.
"There is always so much more material, so many more witnesses you could talk to, more evidence that can be gleaned. My overriding aim with these podcasts is to solve crimes."
Seeing that achieved on Tuesday was an "incredible relief", he says.
"When the hammer finally fell on Chris Dawson and he was declared guilty by the judge, it was a powerful moment," he told Seven.
"He's been scheming and manipulating and lying for at least 40 years. I hope that he is appropriately punished for it."
) that had Chris Reason ( chanel 7 ) talking at the end in a video & he mentioned that the second trial may not go a head now?
The Courier Mail 2 days ago said it was still going ahead in May 2023…
