Australia Samantha Murphy, 51, last seen leaving her property to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, Ballarat, 4 Feb 2024 *Arrest* #12

[SouthAussie]

Are calls and visits recorded in Australia?

All prison phone calls are. Except ones with a lawyer or other exempt organisation.

What phone calls are recorded? – Prison Law Handbook

 

[Deleted member 296739]

All prison phone calls are. Except ones with a lawyer or other exempt organisation.

What phone calls are recorded? – Prison Law Handbook

Thank you

 

[Trooper]

Another angle... .. maybe he has accepted that prison is his life , maybe he always knew it was on the horizon, and he is determined to eke out as long as is humanly possible the time spent on Remand.

Remand, comparatively , ... that is, compared to Port Philip Correction Centre, is not that bad. No , seriously, while not great, it is not horrible.. it is a smoke free zone, one is not as yet a convicted criminal, one is a suspected criminal, with factors in one's case that preclude being allowed to lounge about at home while awaiting trial, a Remandee has a certain amount of privilege that is cut off entirely once one is convicted...

Interestingly, he has not applied for bail. Not that he would get it, but as a public relations exercise , one accused of murder often does give applying for bail a red hot shot, it has good optics..

( this is from the VIC GOVT site .... )

Remandees are unsentenced and are innocent until proven guilty. The law does not regard their confinement as punishment. Therefore, remand prisoners are given maximum flexibility within their security rating and have fewer restrictions placed on them than convicted prisoners. Remand prisoners are treated with the minimum of restrictions that still ensure prisoner safety and good order, security and management of the prison.


Remand prisoners:

• are held separately from convicted prisoners, when practicable
• have increased access to visitors and telephone calls to access legal advice and representation
• have access to legal resources including a legal library
• are permitted to wear their own clothing if appropriate with their security rating
• are offered the opportunity (but are not obliged) to work

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.corrections.vic.gov.au%2F2021-06%2FMRC_Visitors_Info_Booklet_April2021.docx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

 

[Rocket333]

Interestingly, he has not applied for bail. Not that he would get it, but as a public relations exercise , one accused of murder often does give applying for bail a red hot shot, it has good optics..

That is interesting as I’d expect an innocent person to apply for it straight away. Makes me also wonder where he would he go if released on bail?
It was reported that mum and a sister were at court last week. Was the father or the girlfriend there?

“Watching the hearing remotely were members of the Murphy and Stephenson families, including Whitney and Sophie Stephenson, and Lorna Murphy.”

Families watch on as Samantha Murphy’s accused killer opts to fast-track murder trial

Patrick Stephenson will have his trial fast-tracked to the Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to murdering the missing Ballarat mother.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Scooby-Doo]

The next stage and most important is the trial held at Victoria Supreme Court

Juries are randomly selected from the Victorian electoral roll The judge and their staff oversee the jury selection process.
The prosecution and defence can challenge or stand aside jurors without cause.

The number of jurors most likely for this type of trial, 12/15
They take an oath to carry out

 

[Rocket333]

The next stage and most important is the trial held at Victoria Supreme Court

Juries are randomly selected from the Victorian electoral roll The judge and their staff oversee the jury selection process.
The prosecution and defence can challenge or stand aside jurors without cause.

The number of jurors most likely for this type of trial, 12/15
They take an oath to carry out

I just think the trial is going to be a royal mess and I feel so sorry for the two families that will have to look at him and listen to him and just quietly endure it all.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

I just think the trial is going to be a royal mess and I feel so sorry for the two families that will have to look at him and listen to him and just quietly endure it all.

Thankfully I think they'll only have to hear "yes your Honour" as I don't think he'll take the stand. Unless, of course, he goes rogue and sacks his legal teams, goes it alone and creates a crap show. At this point I'm not sure that would surprise me.

I'm not sure I could contain myself if I were a family member in the court room. I'm quiet and non-confrontational by nature, but I find it difficult to hold my tongue when I'm passionate about something, especially something so serious. I'm not sure how the Murphy family has remained dignified, especially so because Samantha has not been properly laid to rest.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

Thankfully I think they'll only have to hear "yes your Honour" as I don't think he'll take the stand. Unless, of course, he goes rogue and sacks his legal teams, goes it alone and creates a crap show. At this point I'm not sure that would surprise me.

I'm not sure I could contain myself if I were a family member in the court room. I'm quiet and non-confrontational by nature, but I find it difficult to hold my tongue when I'm passionate about something, especially something so serious. I'm not sure how the Murphy family has remained dignified, especially so because Samantha has not been properly laid to rest.

You can hang him when they find him guilty. He's innocent until proven guilty in this country

 

[Scooby-Doo]

I just think the trial is going to be a royal mess and I feel so sorry for the two families that will have to look at him and listen to him and just quietly endure it all.

I can't wait for the evidence from the prosecution, especially when poor Samantha has still not been found

 

[Trooper]

You can hang him when they find him guilty. He's innocent until proven guilty in this country

He is enjoying the presumption of innocence right now, he has not been summarily hung, by a gang of vigilantes.. he is lounging about in Remand, watching old replays of the Collingwood/ Eagles match, with a bowl of chips and a dip, looking forward to dinner cooked by a taxpayer paid cook and delivered to his cell, awaiting a visit from his taxpayer paid Barrister, who will guard his interests in court,

The privilege of that presumption of innocence is in a court of law, not in the public domain. not 'in this country' outside a court of law .. That is the essence of freedom, in law.

 

[Rocket333]

I can't wait for the evidence from the prosecution, especially when poor Samantha has still not been found

I think the lack of a body is influencing the plea and the silence to be honest. Possibly thinks it can’t quite get across the line without that irrefutable proof.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

He is enjoying the presumption of innocence right now, he has not been summarily hung, by a gang of vigilantes.. he is lounging about in Remand, watching old replays of the Collingwood/ Eagles match, with a bowl of chips and a dip, looking firward to dinner cooked by a taxpayer paid cook and delivered to his cell, awaiting a visit from his taxpayer paid Barrister, who will guard his interests in court,

The privilege of that presumption of innocence is in a court of law, not in the public domain. not 'in the country' outside a court of law .. That is the essence of freedom, in law.

It doesn't matter what he's doing, and we don't know any specific details of the case, but In Australia, the presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of the criminal justice system that states that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
His family would be going through hell as well

 

[Rocket333]

You can hang him when they find him guilty. He's innocent until proven guilty in this country

I want a dollar for every time you say that Scooby. lols It’s ok, we all know and yet we can still watch, chat and dissect like a murder of crows perched along a telegraph line.

The privilege of that presumption of innocence is in a court of law, not in the public domain. not 'in the country' outside a court of law

None of us would make the jury.

 

[Scooby-Doo]

I want a dollar for every time you say that Scooby. lols It’s ok, we all know and yet we can still watch, chat and dissect like a murder of crows perched along a telegraph line.


None of us would make the jury.

It's certainly a very interesting case that stands out for me. There have been a lot of unsolved cold cases over the years, but this one for me is quite intriguing and just what the evidence is going to be, especially without a body and crime scene present

 

[Scooby-Doo]

I think the lack of a body is influencing the plea and the silence to be honest. Possibly thinks it can’t quite get across the line without that irrefutable proof.

The prosecutors need to have damming evidence, and we don't know what else could be said at the trial

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I can't wait for the evidence from the prosecution, especially when poor Samantha has still not been found

I think this is what everyone is waiting for to be honest! Wondering if there’s similarities to the Greg Lynn case where the police had a suspect and then aside from collecting cctv and public statements, meta data - did they then set about bugging and tapping phones, car, residence etc of suspect and friends etc. surely they would have done this. 60 minutes put out a show about a week before PS was arrested in which two pieces of info were mentioned - a damaged car and accumulation of accurate phone data. A week later he was arrested…same thing with Greg Lynn, 60 minutes did a similar show honing in on his car…not long after that he was arrested…cant help but wonder if the police in conjunction with media put a few fish hooks out there when they’ve got someone!

There has to be something or somethings pretty solid that after 30 hours of police interview they’re able to lay a murder charge on PS.

 

[Trooper]

It doesn't matter what he's doing, and we don't know any specific details of the case, but In Australia, the presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of the criminal justice system that states that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
His family would be going through hell as well

It doesn't matter how many times this mantra is repeated, it is meaningless without the concrete rider that this presumption is in a Court of Law. In the public domain, not so.

 

[Rocket333]

It's certainly a very interesting case that stands out for me. There have been a lot of unsolved cold cases over the years, but this one for me is quite intriguing and just what the evidence is going to be, especially without a body and crime scene present

It’s different for sure. I suspect that Moya O’Brien couldn’t hang around after seeing all of the evidence up close and with Patrick disagreeing with her counsel. I doubt he’ll provide an alibi because I doubt he has one. I think he’ll stay silent, pray the body isn’t found and hope like hell there’s not enough to convict. What else can he do if he is in fact guilty? What could he be doing if he is in fact innocent?

 

[Scooby-Doo]

It doesn't matter how many times this mantra is repeated, it is meaningless without the concrete rider that this presumption is in a Court of Law. In the public domain, not so.

Do you understand that Media organisations can be found in contempt of court if their reporting prejudices the outcome of a trial ? This includes reporting that is unfair, unbalanced, or careless.
I think the Mods will be carefully monitoring this leading onto the trial

 

[SouthAussie]

I think the lack of a body is influencing the plea and the silence to be honest. Possibly thinks it can’t quite get across the line without that irrefutable proof.

He is young and not smart.

The irrefutable proof in the Greg Lynn case was Carol's brain matter that Lynn thought he had cleaned away, and the phones pinging at the same time at the same place as Lynn drove away from the crime scene.
So irrefutable that Lynn had to make up his cockamamie story because he knew he was caught, and he was old enough and intelligent enough that he thought he could outsmart the police and the jury.

The police seem as sure in this case.

imo