Australia Australia - Tegan Lane, 2 days old, Sydney, 14 Sept 1996 *K. Lane guilty*

[The Observer]

But even before she convinced the sceptical award-winning reporter to investigate her 2010 conviction, Lane had enlisted the help of a group of Melbourne law students and their lecturer.

Researchers from RMIT University’s Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative have been quietly and painstakingly sifting through hundreds of pages of evidence and trial notes since receiving an impassioned letter from Lane in 2015.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Lane since writing about her case in 2014, and actually it doesn’t matter if, after getting to know her, I think she is innocent or not. What matters is that someone can be found guilty of murder when no evidence exists to demonstrate murder took place.

‘Keli Lane believes she is innocent’

Thanks!

So 3 years for RMIT and 2 for ABC on the case.

 

[CuriosityKilledtheCat]

Can I ask why you don’t believe Keli ‘did it’ CKTC?

Lots of reasons really. Lots of speculation and theories. I don't think it 'fits'.

BUT

For me right now, the strongest reason is, and it equates with what BOHII is saying, and I believe I can objectively prove this in time, the police searches were not enough, yes they were extensive but they were not foolproof.

 

[The Observer]

A lawyer that has joined the Unofficial FB Exposed discussion group posted this a short while ago:
................
Simon Davis
New Member · 1 hr
There seems to me a huge misconception floating through many comments about Keli Lane being tried for being a liar. This notion is misconceived for many reasons. One striking reason is this. When Keli Lane first told police she had given Tegan to Andrew - the very first time she said it - then, in circumstances where she had no independent corroboration (e.g. no records) of giving Tegan to Andrew, she was immediately putting her own credibility in issue. Implicit in her statement was an assertion that she was being honest. If you parse out the statement to the police it would read: "I'm being honest and I'm telling you Tegan was given to Andrew". From that point on, her credibility was an issue. The police/DPP then had a legitimate license to investigate her credibility. Indeed, it would be heinously unfair to the police/DPP if an accused person chose to put credibility up as her defence and the police/DPP was forbidden from dealing with that defence. Far from the prosecution railroading anything or anyone or putting Keli on trial for lying, it was Keli who introduced the subject into the case. In effect, although she wouldn't have thought about this way, Keli dared the prosecution to prove her a liar. She said, in effect : "You'll have to prove I'm lying about Tegan". Unfortunately for Keli, she ran into a fairly dogged prosecution case led by Tedeschi QC and admirably supported by Gaut who did in fact prove she was lying about Tegan. I'm finding it harder by the day to see how there was injustice in Keli Lane's case. Yesterday, I discovered the High Court transcript which is a very powerful indication that (1) she had a fair trial and (2) she is , in fact, guilty. Today, the theory that she was ever "put on trial for being a liar" stands out as a myth.
....................

Exposed - Keli Lane discussion Group (unofficial)

 

[Bohemian]

Are High Court transcripts/decisions available online?

 

[The Observer]

Are High Court transcripts online?

Yup. Here you go - Lane v The Queen [2014] HCATrans 171 (15 August 2014)

 

[Bohemian]

Lots of reasons really. Lots of speculation and theories. I don't think it 'fits'.

BUT

For me right now, the strongest reason is, and it equates with what BOHII is saying, and I believe I can objectively prove this in time, the police searches were not enough, yes they were extensive but they were not foolproof.

So you believe Keli’s story about handing Tegan to ‘Andrew’, ‘Mel’ and ‘his mother’ and you know he and, presumably, Tegan will be found?

 

[The Observer]

Further reading if anyone is interested. The application for bail to the supreme court pending outcome of the appeal. Which of course was denied.
Keli LANE v Regina [2013] NSWSC 146 (1 March 2013)

Ground 1 - That the trial judge erred in failing to leave the alternative count of manslaughter to the jury.
Ground 2 - The trial miscarried by reason of the prejudice occasioned by the Crown Prosecutor, in particular that he reversed the onus of proof in his closing address by positing a series of questions that he stated the defence had to answer.

Outlines the basis for the appeal and what they were appealing. Easier to understand the High Court transcript.

 

[Via Marple]

"It's overwhelmingly frightening to think you can be tried and convicted on no evidence at all simply because a decision to prosecute was made. Miscarriages of justice do happen."

ABC's Exposed: Academics call for judicial inquiry into Keli Lane case

So the finger is being pointed where?

There is a great comment posted by HarryPalmer below the article too. I had shared his expectation that the ABC must have been onto some significant new info, to have made a 3 part series. Not really! And then now with the facebook group. Still nothing IMO that exonerates Keli Lane.

I guess the judicial review if granted would be a more significant development.

 

[Bohemian]

There is a great comment posted by HarryPalmer below the article too. I had shared his expectation that the ABC must have been onto some significant new info, to have made a 3 part series. Not really! And then now with the facebook group. Still nothing IMO that exonerates Keli Lane.

I guess the judicial review if granted would be a more significant development.

If not a review, an application for a NSW Governor’s pardon perhaps?

‘Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, Dr Andrew Hemming, has also been examining Keli’s case. A specialist in miscarriages of justice (his paper on the legal inconsistencies that preceded the wrongful conviction of Gordon Wood for the murder of Sydney model Caroline Byrne was published in the University of Notre Dame Law Review in 2013), Dr Hemming has told The Weekly he believes there are sufficient holes in the legal case against Keli to warrant investigation.

Even if he thinks her chances of exoneration are slim.

“Keli contacted me via letter,” he reveals.

“Because, in Mark Tedeschi, she had the same prosecutor as Gordon Wood and she had read my paper. The difference [from Gordon Wood], however, is that Keli’s case has already been considered and rejected by both the Court of Criminal Appeal and the High Court of Australia.

And that means she’s exhausted all avenues of legal appeal.”

Dr Hemming said the only hope Keli now has of avoiding serving the remaining years of her sentence is if she applied to the NSW Governor for a pardon, for which she or her legal team would need to produce “fresh and compelling evidence” not already heard in her trial. “And in Keli’s case,” says Dr Hemming. “That means either Andrew Norris coming forward or Tegan suddenly appearing. Or if she changes her story.”

And with the passing of every year, the likelihood of either of these events occurring seems ever more remote.’

Keli Lane's life behind bars: What happened to baby Tegan?

 

[The Observer]

Noted the "Or if she changes her story."

 

[JLZ]

Noted the "Or if she changes her story."

She changed her story already! Lots of times!

 

[Via Marple]

She changed her story already! Lots of times!

Can't be changing her story and getting a review every time!

It has to be a very special change, which removes any doubt, and unlikely to change again. MOO

 

[The Observer]

She changed her story already! Lots of times!

I mean't it very tongue in cheek.

 

[CuriosityKilledtheCat]

So you believe Keli’s story about handing Tegan to ‘Andrew’, ‘Mel’ and ‘his mother’ and you know he and, presumably, Tegan will be found?

I believe someone else is involved and Keli's story is starting to line up. I believe this person will be found and needs to be questioned by Police. I don't know what they will say.

I don't have evidence to fill all the gaps and and I am sceptical about parts of Keli's story until I see something else. She gets details wrong.

 

[CuriosityKilledtheCat]

If not a review, an application for a NSW Governor’s pardon perhaps?

‘Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, Dr Andrew Hemming, has also been examining Keli’s case. A specialist in miscarriages of justice (his paper on the legal inconsistencies that preceded the wrongful conviction of Gordon Wood for the murder of Sydney model Caroline Byrne was published in the University of Notre Dame Law Review in 2013), Dr Hemming has told The Weekly he believes there are sufficient holes in the legal case against Keli to warrant investigation.

Even if he thinks her chances of exoneration are slim.

“Keli contacted me via letter,” he reveals.

“Because, in Mark Tedeschi, she had the same prosecutor as Gordon Wood and she had read my paper. The difference [from Gordon Wood], however, is that Keli’s case has already been considered and rejected by both the Court of Criminal Appeal and the High Court of Australia.

And that means she’s exhausted all avenues of legal appeal.”

Dr Hemming said the only hope Keli now has of avoiding serving the remaining years of her sentence is if she applied to the NSW Governor for a pardon, for which she or her legal team would need to produce “fresh and compelling evidence” not already heard in her trial. “And in Keli’s case,” says Dr Hemming. “That means either Andrew Norris coming forward or Tegan suddenly appearing. Or if she changes her story.”

And with the passing of every year, the likelihood of either of these events occurring seems ever more remote.’

Keli Lane's life behind bars: What happened to baby Tegan?

Thanks for posting this.

 

[JLZ]

(snipped)

She gets details wrong.

I would like to give you a prize for understatement.

 

[Bohemian]

I believe someone else is involved and Keli's story is starting to line up. I believe this person will be found and needs to be questioned by Police. I don't know what they will say.

I don't have evidence to fill all the gaps and and I am sceptical about parts of Keli's story until I see something else. She gets details wrong.

Someone else? You mean ‘Andrew’ is not Andrew but someone completely different?

I’m very skeptical about anything Keli says. I don’t think she is stupid enough to get details wrong, rather she is smart enough to tell untruths to avoid whatever it is she wants to avoid, ie; responsibility, punishment, etc.

 

[Banquo's Ghost]

I agree that the new evidence found by the BoHI and Meldrum-Hanna is not very strong. There's a rush on now, after Serial the podcast etc, for every media outlet to have a true-crime investigation which changes public opinion. But I'm not sure Tegan Lane was a good case to pick.

There are lots of proven wrongful convictions needing attention, lots of missing people whose families don't have the money or social connections to get help. But I think some people identify closely with Keli Lane - a nice girl from a nice middle-class family who played a nice sport and had a drop-kick boyfriend. So they want to help her as much as they'd want someone to help them if they'd had an unwanted pregnancy. Which is good-hearted and generous of them!

The prosecution should definitely have handed over all the recordings of Keli, and they shouldn't have started proceedings until the police were satisfied they'd exhausted every possible search option. But I'm not sure that's enough for a new trial or a pardon.

The comment by Harry Palmer on this article that Via Marple highlighted for us, raises a good point: Lane's own story (the current version, at least) is that she did not abort in time, was not willing to make the effort to adopt out Tegan properly, didn't make any effort to follow up that Tegan was doing ok with her biological father, and lied for years about the real location of Tegan when it could have established that she was safe and well. Even if she didn't want to raise Tegan, she still had a duty of care which she thoroughly neglected.

I don't believe her story, but if it's true she needs to accept that she is the only one responsible for the situation she's in now.

 

[Banquo's Ghost]

I thought Natalie would have been a weak witness but I didn't expect as weak as that.

Yes, I thought that on Exposed she came across as a very sweet and caring person, but her evidence was only that she'd heard Keli mention an Andrew a few times. And the book Nice Girl (I got a ebook copy too now, happy to post any excerpts people would like to see) says that she only told police this after she'd already spoken to them and then to Keli, so it has the appearance of her being coached by Keli. And it doesn't move the search for Tegan forward at all - Tegan has to have a father, but if we don't know who or where he is then it doesn't matter.

 

[CuriosityKilledtheCat]

(snipped)

I would like to give you a prize for understatement.

Haha... thanks!