WEBVTT - Why the Two Reports?

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<v Speaker 1>Good.

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<v Speaker 2>Just before nine o'clock last night, the jury returned guilty

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<v Speaker 2>verdicts against all three defendants. It was absolutely shambles, to

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<v Speaker 2>tell you the truth, just absolutely really heading blood on

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<v Speaker 2>his clothing the day after the alleged a top on.

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<v Speaker 1>A shallow mud bank and it fits through a river.

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<v Speaker 3>Basically, I think most of the people are used to

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<v Speaker 3>me are good people.

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<v Speaker 1>I think a really important question we need to ask

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<v Speaker 1>is how many Indigenous prisoners in Australia are innocent.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Curtain, a podcast where we pull back the

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<v Speaker 2>blinds to shine a light on the darkest parts of

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<v Speaker 2>our justice system and ask who are the victims. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>Amy Maguire and I'm.

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<v Speaker 1>Martin Hodgson, a senior advocate for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service.

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<v Speaker 1>And a warning, this series contains the names of deceased

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<v Speaker 1>peoples and has distressing content that might upset some listeners.

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<v Speaker 3>Welcome to episode fifty of Curtain, the podcast. First this week,

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<v Speaker 3>before we get into more information about Kevin Henry's case

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<v Speaker 3>and some of our new findings and what we've uncovered,

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<v Speaker 3>There's been some new data come out and new reports

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<v Speaker 3>about exonerations in the United States and the sheer number

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<v Speaker 3>of people who have been locked up for decades, some

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<v Speaker 3>of them on death row for crimes they never committed,

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<v Speaker 3>and have finally been exonerated and released. Amy, You've been

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<v Speaker 3>looking at these articles discussing this phenomena this week. What's

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<v Speaker 3>the overview of what's been going on.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so there are quite a few articles in the

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<v Speaker 2>US media and all to say, the British media about

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<v Speaker 2>a new report released by the University of Michigan Law

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<v Speaker 2>School and the Michigan State University College of Law. And

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<v Speaker 2>they actually have a National Registry of Exonerations and they

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<v Speaker 2>released a report this week and on their website they

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<v Speaker 2>say there's currently been two one hundred and eighty three exonerations,

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<v Speaker 2>so that's over the period that they've been counting, and

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<v Speaker 2>they've talied that that's more than nineteen thousand, one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and ninety years lost. So they tallying up all of

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<v Speaker 2>those prison sentences of innocent people, of innocent people, innocent

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<v Speaker 2>people in America have lost nineteen thousand, one hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>ninety years. But specifically, this report looked at the most

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<v Speaker 2>recent exonerations and they estimated that in the United States,

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred and thirty nine convicted defendants were exonerated last year,

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<v Speaker 2>and I thought it was very interesting because The New

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<v Speaker 2>York Times ran an article focusing specifically on how much

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of those exonerations can be put down to

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<v Speaker 2>the work of dedicated lawyers and private organizations that were

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<v Speaker 2>actually focusing specifically on wrongful convictions. And so what the

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<v Speaker 2>New York Times reported was those such professional exoner which

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<v Speaker 2>we call which they called them, were responsible for more

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<v Speaker 2>than half of the exonerations in twenty and seventeen, according

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<v Speaker 2>to that report, and that's they also broke down a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of those exonerations, so eighty of those exonerations were

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<v Speaker 2>due to private organizations actually working to overturn wrongful convictions.

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<v Speaker 2>The years lost just last year was one four hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and seventy eight years. On average, each defendant exonerated last

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<v Speaker 2>year spent at least ten point six years behind bars,

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<v Speaker 2>so that's adding up to almost one thy five hundred

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<v Speaker 2>years spent waiting just to be cleared. Specifically, looking at

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<v Speaker 2>eggxzonerations caused by official misconduct, so that includes things like

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<v Speaker 2>officers threatening witnesses, analysts falsifying tests, or officials withholding evidence

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<v Speaker 2>that could have cleared the defendant those were eighty four,

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<v Speaker 2>So eighty four exonerations were due to official misconduct and

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<v Speaker 2>sixty six exonerations were due to no crime, So defendants

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<v Speaker 2>who were wrongfully convicted in cases in which there was

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<v Speaker 2>no crime at all committed. So this included things like

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<v Speaker 2>a dozen drug possession cases, eleven child sex abuse cases,

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<v Speaker 2>and nine murder cases. So there's very interesting statistics there

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<v Speaker 2>from the United States, particularly around the fact that half

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<v Speaker 2>of those exonerations, those one hundred and thirty nine exonerations,

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<v Speaker 2>were due to just dedicated people working specifically on wrongful convictions.

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<v Speaker 2>Midin when you hear stats like that, does that surprise

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<v Speaker 2>you or what do you think when you when you

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<v Speaker 2>actually hear those sort of reports and those sort of

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<v Speaker 2>that sort of data.

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<v Speaker 3>I think there's two really concerning things coming out of

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<v Speaker 3>the information we received this week. Firstly, the sheer number

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<v Speaker 3>of people who are being wrongfully convicted. The fact that

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<v Speaker 3>so much many of these people were convicted of crimes

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<v Speaker 3>that simply never took place, and that should be hugely

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<v Speaker 3>problematic to anyone. This is not a bungled investigation. This

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<v Speaker 3>is police making up crimes and clearly imprisoning people. And

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<v Speaker 3>we know it's largely African American, poor white people and

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<v Speaker 3>Latinos who are overrepresented in prison. The second thing that's

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<v Speaker 3>really troubling is that the work is not being done

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<v Speaker 3>by law enforcement of any kind, not even internal affairs.

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<v Speaker 3>That the majority of this is being done by concerned

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<v Speaker 3>citizens groups, individual lawyers, but more so small organizations right

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<v Speaker 3>around the country. And so what we're having to see

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<v Speaker 3>is just as we're doing here, groups with very small

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<v Speaker 3>amounts of resources going up against the state, and we

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<v Speaker 3>know just how it is to overturn a conviction. So

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<v Speaker 3>for this many people to be exonerated again, we have

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<v Speaker 3>to think how many people in the US are in

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<v Speaker 3>prison who are innocent? And it goes to the point

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<v Speaker 3>we've always made, which is this open question how many

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<v Speaker 3>indigenous prisoners are innocent in Australia. And one thing I

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<v Speaker 3>would say is Australians have a habit of looking at

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<v Speaker 3>the US and we watch all their crime shows. We

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<v Speaker 3>know about the overrepresentation of African Americans in US jails

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<v Speaker 3>and it is bad. In fact, African American males are

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<v Speaker 3>five times more likely to be in prison than their

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<v Speaker 3>white counterparts. In Australia, it's three times worse for Aboriginal

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<v Speaker 3>men and women. For those under the age of eighteen,

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<v Speaker 3>it's up twenty times worse than for African Americans. So

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<v Speaker 3>if you think it's bad in the United States, we

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<v Speaker 3>know it's bad, and we're seeing these exonerations. We know

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<v Speaker 3>the answer to this open question that we're asking, how

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<v Speaker 3>many Indigenous prisoners are innocent, it's hundreds, if not thousands.

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<v Speaker 3>But we come back to if it's small community groups

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<v Speaker 3>and individuals who are overturning these cases, it won't happen

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<v Speaker 3>in Australia till the people doing the work get support

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<v Speaker 3>and more people, particularly lawyers, step up and do the

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<v Speaker 3>work that needs to be done to free the innocent

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<v Speaker 3>people we have in our own prison system.

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<v Speaker 2>And Martin, I've read a few quotes over the past

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<v Speaker 2>couple of weeks, and you know, we don't know the

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<v Speaker 2>full extent just talking about America of wrongful convictions in

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<v Speaker 2>the US justice system, but lawyers seem to estimate that

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<v Speaker 2>at least one percent of people who are convicted and

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<v Speaker 2>given jail time are innocent, which comes to thousands a year.

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<v Speaker 2>Hundreds Would you consider that to be similar in Australia.

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<v Speaker 3>We don't have a.

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<v Speaker 2>Lot of that data over here, but it seems like

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<v Speaker 2>a small percentage one percent, but it actually represents a

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<v Speaker 2>huge number of people that actually aren't even being picked

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<v Speaker 2>up in the US at the moment, despite this push

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<v Speaker 2>and a lot of these private and professional exonerators actually

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<v Speaker 2>working dedicating their time to this. But would you expect

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<v Speaker 2>there to be a similar rate over in Australia.

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<v Speaker 3>I think for the general prison population. If we think

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<v Speaker 3>about it in the United States in terms of the

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<v Speaker 3>average prison perhaps holding five to six hundred individuals, in

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<v Speaker 3>that case, there's five or six people in that prison

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<v Speaker 3>who are innocent, and we know about the harsh sentencing

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<v Speaker 3>they have in the US. But the reason I believe

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<v Speaker 3>the figure is probably higher in Australia is again if

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<v Speaker 3>we look at the representation of Aboriginal people in the

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<v Speaker 3>prison system. You look at juvenile justice in Western Australia,

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<v Speaker 3>for example, where there was a period of time where

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<v Speaker 3>there was one hundred people in juvenile detention and ninety

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<v Speaker 3>eight of them were Indigenous, despite being only three percent

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<v Speaker 3>of the population. When you have statistics that are that

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<v Speaker 3>far out of balance, it's very likely for a large

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<v Speaker 3>range of reasons why a far greater percentage of those

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<v Speaker 3>young people are innocent, and of course their adult counterparts

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<v Speaker 3>are innocent. Partly that's to do with there is a

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<v Speaker 3>greater process for appeal in the United States. There's been

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<v Speaker 3>new legislation introduced in the US that we don't have

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<v Speaker 3>in Australia for post conviction relief, particularly in states like

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<v Speaker 3>Michigan where there was very high imprisonment rates. In fact,

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<v Speaker 3>the death penalty in Michigan was apped by a Republican

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<v Speaker 3>governor precisely because of the number of innocent people in

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<v Speaker 3>prison and on death row. So we also know that

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<v Speaker 3>there's chronic underfunding of things like the Aboriginal Legal Service.

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<v Speaker 3>There's a lack of translators, there's a lack of community

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<v Speaker 3>support to go on with things like appeals. Aboriginal prisoners

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<v Speaker 3>who are trying to appeal don't ever get to choose

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<v Speaker 3>their own lawyer unless they have the funds too. This

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<v Speaker 3>is another enormous problem. If a lawyer has already failed

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<v Speaker 3>you once at trial, and we know that's happened, the

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<v Speaker 3>likelihood of them then successfully appealing your case is virtually zero.

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<v Speaker 3>So I think even a conservative estimate in terms of

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<v Speaker 3>Indigenous prisoners convicted of serious crimes, because we know the

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<v Speaker 3>most scary thing about all of them is the worse

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<v Speaker 3>the crime, the more likely it is the prison system

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<v Speaker 3>and the justice system gets it wrong. And this is

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<v Speaker 3>from long term studies both in Australia and the United States.

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<v Speaker 3>And I'd go back to Michigan again, where they had

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<v Speaker 3>a between a one and two percent failure rate that's

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<v Speaker 3>sending innocent people to prison across the general population on

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<v Speaker 3>death row. When they analyzed every single case of current

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<v Speaker 3>death row inmates at the time, the failure eight was

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<v Speaker 3>twenty five percent. Now that's one in four prisoners. So

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<v Speaker 3>if we think of all the Indigenous men and women

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<v Speaker 3>in maximum in maximum security prisons in Australia, it's very

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<v Speaker 3>likely the figure could be that high.

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<v Speaker 2>So Martin, there seems to be a lot we can

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<v Speaker 2>learn and draw links to from this report that was

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<v Speaker 2>recently released in the US this week and Kevin Henry's case,

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<v Speaker 2>particularly when you look that those statistics around exonerations caused

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<v Speaker 2>by official misconduct and exonerations where there was no crime committed,

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<v Speaker 2>which seems to be a majority of the exonerations or

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<v Speaker 2>a large percentage of them. Specifically, what can we what

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<v Speaker 2>sorry how does this link back to Kevin Henry's case?

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<v Speaker 2>What do we see in Kevin Henry's case that have

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<v Speaker 2>enormous similarities to these exonerations and these statistics in the US.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Well, one of the big problems, of course in

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<v Speaker 3>the United States and in Australia too is junk forensics

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<v Speaker 3>and junk science. We've seen in some of the most

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<v Speaker 3>highly publicized cases, whether it be oj Simpson's case, that

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<v Speaker 3>of Michael Peterson in North Carolina, where the forensics are

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<v Speaker 3>either made up or don't make sense. And here's something

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<v Speaker 3>we can reveal for the first time about keV Henry's case,

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<v Speaker 3>that is that two post mortems were conducted. Now, this

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<v Speaker 3>is highly unusual, and it's also unusual because there was

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<v Speaker 3>never an inclination of any kind given to the defense

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<v Speaker 3>attorneys that we're aware of that two were done. In fact,

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<v Speaker 3>the findings of one seem to have been taken and

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<v Speaker 3>then stored from after Kevin was arrested until we've uncovered

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<v Speaker 3>them very recently. One was conducted the day that Linda

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<v Speaker 3>was found, on the Sunday, and the second one was

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<v Speaker 3>conducted on the Monday, the following day after the first

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<v Speaker 3>had been conducted. And they were done almost twenty four

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<v Speaker 3>hours after each other. They were both done at about

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<v Speaker 3>ten in the morning. Now, the problem with the two

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<v Speaker 3>post mortems is that they detail very different things. One

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<v Speaker 3>of the post mortems is largely what is included in

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<v Speaker 3>the trial transcripts and was used at evidence in the

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<v Speaker 3>trial of Kevin Henry. But the second transcript of the

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<v Speaker 3>post mortem that was carried out on the Monday contains

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<v Speaker 3>things that were never included, and this includes something called

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<v Speaker 3>what the state of hypostasis was at the time of death,

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<v Speaker 3>and it was recorded as posterior. So to explain that

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<v Speaker 3>very simply, that means that the person passed away, most

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<v Speaker 3>likely when they were lying on their back, which was

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<v Speaker 3>how we know Linda was during the attack that took

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<v Speaker 3>place on her. It's not what occurs when a body

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<v Speaker 3>is placed in the river when the person is still alive.

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<v Speaker 3>And for Kevin to have been found guilty of murder,

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<v Speaker 3>Linda had to still be alive when she was placed

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<v Speaker 3>in the river. So we know that that is not correct,

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<v Speaker 3>and that's from this second post mortem. The other issue

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<v Speaker 3>is that the examiner from the second post mortem clearly

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<v Speaker 3>states that the body had already been tampered with or

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<v Speaker 3>at least someone had done something in terms of cleaning

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<v Speaker 3>the body up. And we've discussed this briefly before, that

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<v Speaker 3>Linda's body was covered in mud and that her body

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<v Speaker 3>was cleaned before the post mortem the second one took place,

0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:45.400
<v Speaker 3>and that should never have happened. We don't know what

0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.520
<v Speaker 3>the chain of custody was, and we don't know who

0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:55.200
<v Speaker 3>had the responsibility to ensure no tampering took place. But

0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.560
<v Speaker 3>what we do know is that only one name continues

0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 3>to come up was present when Linda's body was found

0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:07.520
<v Speaker 3>and inspected by a doctor from the Rockampton Hospital, when

0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.680
<v Speaker 3>the first post mortem was carried out, and when the

0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.880
<v Speaker 3>second post mortem was carried out, and that was Detective

0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:19.640
<v Speaker 3>Senior Constable Robert Hunt. You'll know from this podcast he's

0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:24.320
<v Speaker 3>also the person that charged Kevin Henry, who was present

0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:29.680
<v Speaker 3>during Kevin Henry's interviews where there's the mysterious gaps in

0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:34.000
<v Speaker 3>the tape, who Kevin Henry has previously alleged he was

0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:38.400
<v Speaker 3>threatened during that interview, that Kevin Henry was also not

0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:43.840
<v Speaker 3>given a lawyer, and that the situation around that is

0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.400
<v Speaker 3>very suspect to say the least. And you will have

0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:51.400
<v Speaker 3>heard that. This is also the detective who, despite being

0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:57.040
<v Speaker 3>quite junior ranks, turned up for just about every witness statement.

0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.200
<v Speaker 3>This is also the detective who took witness statements from

0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:05.640
<v Speaker 3>people when they were intoxicated, who took witness statements from

0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.679
<v Speaker 3>people who were in prison, and of course we know

0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:14.240
<v Speaker 3>about the veracity of witness statements given by jail house snitches.

0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.840
<v Speaker 3>This is also the detective who took a witness statement

0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:22.320
<v Speaker 3>from a miner who was intoxicated at the time without

0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:26.520
<v Speaker 3>a lawyer present. And this is the detective who on

0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.679
<v Speaker 3>the stand was found in many cases simply not to

0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.920
<v Speaker 3>have been telling the truth and had admitted very openly

0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:40.040
<v Speaker 3>that they considered this an open and shutcase. It's no

0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:42.879
<v Speaker 3>surprise that this is the same detective that was there

0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:47.680
<v Speaker 3>from the very start, and it's clear from his statement

0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.280
<v Speaker 3>to the court that he cherry picked the very best

0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:56.199
<v Speaker 3>of what would suit his case from the two post mortems. So,

0:17:56.400 --> 0:18:01.479
<v Speaker 3>while we're not suggesting that the doctors in conducting this

0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:06.320
<v Speaker 3>these two post mortems did anything wrong, it's very strange

0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:10.720
<v Speaker 3>that two took place. It's strange that the findings are different,

0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.399
<v Speaker 3>and it's quite worrying that some of the things that

0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:20.280
<v Speaker 3>would have led to clear signs of Kevin Henry's innocence

0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 3>were deliberately left out.

0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.480
<v Speaker 2>So Martin, when you mentioned about the mud, how do

0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.840
<v Speaker 2>we know that the mud was on her when she

0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.399
<v Speaker 2>actually was brought back to Shaw? How do we know

0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.760
<v Speaker 2>that it hadn't been washed off by the river? For example?

0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.240
<v Speaker 2>Who saw the mud on her when she came back

0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:42.680
<v Speaker 2>to shore?

0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.680
<v Speaker 3>Okay, So we have the statement of the two fishermen

0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:51.080
<v Speaker 3>who had no reason to say anything other than what

0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:55.520
<v Speaker 3>they saw. We have confirmation in terms of the mud

0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.520
<v Speaker 3>being on Linda's body from the police photographer. We have

0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.879
<v Speaker 3>information of mud being on Linda's body from the first

0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:07.000
<v Speaker 3>police officer who was on the scene. We have confirmation

0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:09.959
<v Speaker 3>from the first doctor on the scene, and we have

0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:15.760
<v Speaker 3>confirmation from the first criminologist and coroner who did the

0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:20.240
<v Speaker 3>first post mortem. Then we get confirmation the body had

0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:24.679
<v Speaker 3>been cleaned by the second doctor who said that and

0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:29.600
<v Speaker 3>I quote, I understand that when initially retrieved, the body

0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.800
<v Speaker 3>had been covered with mud, but the body has since

0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:37.280
<v Speaker 3>been cleaned. But there's nothing about why the body was cleaned,

0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:41.680
<v Speaker 3>what evidence might have been removed when the body was cleaned,

0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:46.600
<v Speaker 3>and who cleaned it and where, where, when and why?

0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.080
<v Speaker 3>And these are questions that we don't have answers to

0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:56.800
<v Speaker 3>other than we know that this one detective was present

0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:03.080
<v Speaker 3>for the examination of all three the two post mortems

0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:06.240
<v Speaker 3>and the first examination by the doctor who was called

0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:11.520
<v Speaker 3>down to the riverbank. So we have statements from eyewitnesses,

0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:15.720
<v Speaker 3>from police and from three doctors, and they all contradict

0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:17.640
<v Speaker 3>that of one officer.

0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:21.280
<v Speaker 2>So Martin, obviously, what you've just detailed then shows the

0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.760
<v Speaker 2>official misconduct, which we hopefully have detailed a lot of

0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.919
<v Speaker 2>in previous podcasts as well. But what about the no

0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:29.439
<v Speaker 2>crime taking place.

0:20:31.520 --> 0:20:35.840
<v Speaker 3>It's a very important and serious point. First, we have

0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:40.560
<v Speaker 3>the issue, of course that the forensics clearly shows that sadly,

0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.679
<v Speaker 3>Linda had already passed away when she was placed in

0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:48.520
<v Speaker 3>the water. But the reason Kevin Henry is still in

0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.280
<v Speaker 3>prison to this day is not because of the murder charge.

0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.560
<v Speaker 3>It's because of the charge of rape that was leveled

0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:59.399
<v Speaker 3>against him. And this is something that's very important because

0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:03.360
<v Speaker 3>this is what has held up parole for so long. Remember,

0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:10.920
<v Speaker 3>Kevin Henry absolutely denies ever raping Linda, and even though

0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.520
<v Speaker 3>we know there was a forensic report and the crime

0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:19.479
<v Speaker 3>lab in Brisbane conducted a vast range of forensic tests

0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:24.119
<v Speaker 3>at the time. We have the doctor's examination, and then

0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:28.120
<v Speaker 3>we have two post mortems now from people who were

0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:32.959
<v Speaker 3>qualified to carry out post mortems as coroners, and they

0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:40.520
<v Speaker 3>were all consistent on one fact. Linda did not suffer rape.

0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:44.879
<v Speaker 3>There was no crime of rape. So Kevin Henry should

0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:47.679
<v Speaker 3>never have been found guilty of that in the first place.

0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.920
<v Speaker 3>The fact that that is what's holding up his parole

0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:56.920
<v Speaker 3>to this day, more than two decades, nearly three decades later,

0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:00.720
<v Speaker 3>is just what we see in these exoneraisations in the

0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:05.320
<v Speaker 3>United States. We're talking about crimes that simply never took place.

0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:12.199
<v Speaker 3>So we have multiple doctors, pathologists, people with the expertise

0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.880
<v Speaker 3>for the State of Queensland to entrust these people as

0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:20.679
<v Speaker 3>coroners to determine how people died, often in very difficult

0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:25.000
<v Speaker 3>circumstances to understand, and they all rea on one thing,

0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:30.000
<v Speaker 3>and that is that Linda was not raped. Now, this

0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:34.359
<v Speaker 3>is vital for two reasons, and I think it's absolutely

0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:38.159
<v Speaker 3>disgusting that the police even took that charge to trial,

0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:43.840
<v Speaker 3>let alone that Kevin was convicted of it. First, it

0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:47.800
<v Speaker 3>means that for all this time Linda's family has been

0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:52.480
<v Speaker 3>led to believe she was sexually assaulted and have been

0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:55.280
<v Speaker 3>forced to live with that memory for the rest of

0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:59.919
<v Speaker 3>their lives. And it's something that simply did not take place.

0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:05.600
<v Speaker 3>This was a crime committed by the police on Linda's family,

0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:10.200
<v Speaker 3>an Aboriginal family already suffering greatly because of police action.

0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:15.600
<v Speaker 3>Doctors and coroners all state, in their official reports tended

0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.600
<v Speaker 3>to the court that no crime of rape took place,

0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:22.880
<v Speaker 3>and yet the police would take it to court and

0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:29.240
<v Speaker 3>through what we've detailed in this podcast gain a disgusting

0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:33.639
<v Speaker 3>and wrongful conviction. Secondly, of course, it's meant that Kevin

0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:38.080
<v Speaker 3>Henry has stayed in prison all this time because a

0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:43.520
<v Speaker 3>parole board understandably does not want to release someone who's

0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:47.760
<v Speaker 3>been convicted of rape if they believe that person has

0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:52.640
<v Speaker 3>not gone through the proper processes in terms of rehabilitation.

0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:57.959
<v Speaker 3>But what they've been told is the same lie that

0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:01.920
<v Speaker 3>the rape took place when it never did. And because

0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:05.800
<v Speaker 3>of the ridiculous laws in the state of Queensland, the

0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:09.240
<v Speaker 3>parole Board has not been able to consider the very

0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.600
<v Speaker 3>evidence that should have been presented to court that was

0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:16.359
<v Speaker 3>done by professional doctors and coroners at the time that

0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:21.560
<v Speaker 3>this rape simply never took place. So it's not just

0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:25.399
<v Speaker 3>a matter of the police fabricating evidence and stitching Kevin

0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.960
<v Speaker 3>Henry up. It's also got to do with politicians not

0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:34.480
<v Speaker 3>passing the laws that make exonerations possible. It shouldn't be

0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:37.840
<v Speaker 3>in twenty eighteen that we can hold in our hands

0:24:38.320 --> 0:24:44.080
<v Speaker 3>official documents and post examination reports done by doctors and

0:24:44.160 --> 0:24:49.160
<v Speaker 3>coroners that categorically states something did not happen, and nearly

0:24:49.200 --> 0:24:53.199
<v Speaker 3>thirty years later a man is in prison for that crime.

0:24:54.560 --> 0:24:58.679
<v Speaker 3>So if we are going to see any number of

0:24:58.760 --> 0:25:03.000
<v Speaker 3>people released, as we're starting to see in the United States,

0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:07.560
<v Speaker 3>we're going to need lawyers to start taking these cases up.

0:25:08.359 --> 0:25:11.719
<v Speaker 3>We're going to need politicians willing to change laws to

0:25:11.760 --> 0:25:15.320
<v Speaker 3>allow the truth, the real evidence, to see the light

0:25:15.359 --> 0:25:18.760
<v Speaker 3>of day. And we're going to need the public to

0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:22.440
<v Speaker 3>support work of those trying to free the wrongfully convicted,

0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:27.440
<v Speaker 3>because it can't be done without resources and a great

0:25:27.480 --> 0:25:30.440
<v Speaker 3>deal of time. Just as we've seen in the United States,

0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:34.119
<v Speaker 3>sadly in Australia only a handful of people are carrying

0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:38.440
<v Speaker 3>out this work. This podcast is one of those works,

0:25:38.840 --> 0:25:41.879
<v Speaker 3>but it needs support or people like Kevin Henry and

0:25:41.920 --> 0:25:46.240
<v Speaker 3>all those like him won't get justice, And the families

0:25:46.560 --> 0:25:51.159
<v Speaker 3>of those like Linda whose life was tragically taken and

0:25:51.200 --> 0:25:54.960
<v Speaker 3>then the police doubled down on that crime by completely

0:25:55.080 --> 0:25:58.879
<v Speaker 3>lying to her family about what took place. Has continued

0:25:58.920 --> 0:26:01.920
<v Speaker 3>for nearly three decades, and it's time that changes.

0:26:02.560 --> 0:26:04.840
<v Speaker 2>That was episode fifty of Curtain