Speaker 1: Just before nine o'clock last night, the jury returned guilty
Speaker 1: verdicts against all three defendants. It was absolute shambles, to
Speaker 1: tell you the truth, just absolutely really coming.
Speaker 2: Blood on his clothing the day after the alleged a
Speaker 2: top on a shallow mud bank and it fits through
Speaker 2: a river.
Speaker 1: Basically, I think most of the people are used to me,
Speaker 1: there are good people.
Speaker 2: I think a really important question we need to ask
Speaker 2: is how many Indigenous prisoners in Australia are innocent.
Speaker 1: This is Curtain, a podcast where we pull back the
Speaker 1: blinds to shine a light on the darkest parts of
Speaker 1: our justice system and ask who are the victims.
Speaker 2: I'm Amy Maguire and I'm Martin Hodgson, a senior advocate
Speaker 2: for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service. And a warning, this
Speaker 2: series contains the names of deceased peoples and has distressing
Speaker 2: content that might upset some listeners.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Curtin the podcast for twenty nineteen. With this one,
Speaker 1: thank our listeners both on radio and those who listen
Speaker 1: to the podcast via a number of web services like iTunes,
Speaker 1: Spotify and SoundCloud for their patients. As we bring you
Speaker 1: new information about the case of Kevin Henry. This year. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: due to delays beyond our control, we can't really update
Speaker 1: you as to where Kevin's case is at the minute.
Speaker 1: We can say it's progressing. It's progressing favorably for Kevin,
Speaker 1: but due to the very slow nature of the way
Speaker 1: government works, we can't reveal anything too much at this stage,
Speaker 1: but we hope to be able to in the coming weeks.
Speaker 1: But in the meantime, there are plenty of pressing issues
Speaker 1: relating to the overincarceration of Aboriginal Andentura Strait Islander people
Speaker 1: in Australia, Debt's in custody, and also the issue of
Speaker 1: false confessions and police behavior in Australia that we want
Speaker 1: to address. To start this episode, I want to begin
Speaker 1: on a somber note. As many people will probably be aware,
Speaker 1: Andrew Mark Mallard was wrongly accused and convicted of a
Speaker 1: murder in Western Australia in nineteen ninety five. It took
Speaker 1: his friends, family and supporters nearly twelve years to have
Speaker 1: his conviction overturned. The police had, through a great deal
Speaker 1: of misconduct, tampering with evidence and many other things would
Speaker 1: later be revealed, found a way to make Andrew the
Speaker 1: prime suspect and put him on trial. Andrew was convicted
Speaker 1: and was detained in maximum security prison for those twelve years,
Speaker 1: But in two thousand and six his conviction was quashed
Speaker 1: by the High Court and compensation was paid to him
Speaker 1: by the state government. But even after all that, the
Speaker 1: Police Force of Western Australia still claimed that Andrew Mallard
Speaker 1: was the prime suspect. This was proven absurd when a
Speaker 1: full review was conducted into what happened that night when
Speaker 1: the murder took place, and unsurprisingly what was uncovered was
Speaker 1: that there was compelling evidence that an already convicted murderer,
Speaker 1: Simon Roachford, had actually carried out the murder that Andrew
Speaker 1: Mallard had wrongly been convicted of. How many times have
Speaker 1: we heard of people who have already committed murders getting
Speaker 1: off scot free because the police target the wrong people.
Speaker 1: In Andrew's case, he'd had a difficult life. He'd suffered
Speaker 1: mental illness that he'd spent a long time trying to overcome.
Speaker 1: To improve his lot in life, he sought therapy to
Speaker 1: gain confidence, to study and to find a place to live.
Speaker 1: But due to his circumstances due to his mental illness,
Speaker 1: due to his periods of homelessness. He was targeted by
Speaker 1: the police, and although Andrew was to be found that
Speaker 1: he'd been wrongly convicted, no amount of compensation, no amount
Speaker 1: of the quashing of that wrong conviction, could ever bring
Speaker 1: back the twelve years he lost, or the heartache and
Speaker 1: mental turmoil he suffered spending all those years in prison,
Speaker 1: convicted for a crime he didn't commit. Thankfully, Andrew was
Speaker 1: able to move on with his life. He successfully completed
Speaker 1: a university degree and he moved to London in the UK.
Speaker 1: He simply found living in Australia too difficult. Even more
Speaker 1: happiness would come for Andrew when he was engaged to
Speaker 1: be married, and often traveled to Los Angeles in California
Speaker 1: to visit his fiance where she lived. Less than two
Speaker 1: weeks ago, Andrew was sadly fatally struck by a car
Speaker 1: while trying to cross the road in Hollywood. The person
Speaker 1: didn't stop and Andrew was killed. We want to send
Speaker 1: our deepest condolences to Andrew's family, to all his loved ones,
Speaker 1: his friends and those who supported him in friend bring
Speaker 1: himself from prison and clearing his name. It's a tragic
Speaker 1: end to a tragic story that never had to be
Speaker 1: that way if the police in Western Australia didn't convict
Speaker 1: the wrong man of a crime he did not commit. Again,
Speaker 1: it's a story we continue to hear all too often.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons we hear this story and we've
Speaker 1: brought it to you on Curtain has happened to Kevin
Speaker 1: Henry is the use of aggressive and I would say
Speaker 1: immoral techniques by police to obtain false confessions. Three years
Speaker 1: ago on this podcast, you heard about what is called
Speaker 1: the read technique, a technique developed in the United States
Speaker 1: and used by the United States Police Force across all
Speaker 1: their states and federal jurisdictions that seeks to get not
Speaker 1: just innocent people to confess to crimes they didn't commit.
Speaker 1: It so often has innocent people confessing to crimes they
Speaker 1: knew nothing about, crimes that never took place, and people
Speaker 1: imprisoned for life on information that was extracted under duress
Speaker 1: during this interview process, known as the reed technique. So
Speaker 1: flawed is this technique that leaked documents discovered in the
Speaker 1: Library of Congress in the United States in twenty thirteen
Speaker 1: showed that the FBI, the Federal Bureau of investigation no
Speaker 1: longer advised their serving members to utilize the technique, as
Speaker 1: it too often led to false confessions. But that doesn't
Speaker 1: stop the police force across America from us using the technique,
Speaker 1: and as we've pointed out, many people have falsely confessed
Speaker 1: to crimes they didn't commit because of it. It's highly aggressive,
Speaker 1: it is highly manipulative, and it's an immoral way to
Speaker 1: extract a confession from an innocent person. As we've also
Speaker 1: pointed out in the podcast, elements of this technique were
Speaker 1: clearly used by the Queensland Police against Kevin Henry and
Speaker 1: remain in use by police officers right around Australia. Now
Speaker 1: this evening on ABCTV Four Corners ran a program on
Speaker 1: the Reed technique. Sadly for all Australians whose tax dollars
Speaker 1: go to fund the ABC and put on programs like
Speaker 1: four Corners, the investigation into the use of the Reed
Speaker 1: technique focused on the United States. That's despite three years
Speaker 1: ago here on the Curtain podcast you hearing how that
Speaker 1: technique is used, especially against vulnerable people and even more
Speaker 1: so against Aboriginal people like Kevin Henry. Why wasn't the
Speaker 1: ABC and four Corners using their resources that we all
Speaker 1: provide to expose the use of this technique by Australian police,
Speaker 1: and to expose the number of false confessions that have
Speaker 1: been elicited in this country, and to expose the number
Speaker 1: of innocent people, including children, who are currently detained in Australia,
Speaker 1: who have previously been detained wrongfully in Australia, like Andrew Mallard,
Speaker 1: who spent twelve years of his life in prison for
Speaker 1: a crime he didn't commit. Kevin Henry, who spent twenty
Speaker 1: eight years in prison for a crime we all know
Speaker 1: he did not commit. So flawed is the red technique
Speaker 1: that the very man John Reid who founded it, became
Speaker 1: famous after extracting a confession in nineteen fifty five. This
Speaker 1: confession in a very high profile case, made his technique
Speaker 1: so popular that it was adopted by United States law
Speaker 1: enforcement and around the world. There's just one problem with that,
Speaker 1: That very first confession he extracted was later determined to
Speaker 1: be a false confession. Another man finally confessed to the crime,
Speaker 1: and the original person convicted of the crime was paid
Speaker 1: compensation of half a million dollars by the State of
Speaker 1: Nebraska for his wrongful conviction. The very first time this
Speaker 1: technique was used, it failed, and that was in nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty five. It did the only thing it's good at.
Speaker 1: It extracted a false confession. Now that technique remains in
Speaker 1: use in the US and in Australia. But your ABC,
Speaker 1: our ABC four Corners, a program we fund with vast resources,
Speaker 1: chose not to look at the issue of innocent people
Speaker 1: in prison in Australia, chose not to look at police
Speaker 1: corruption in Australia, and chose to ignore people like Derrek Bromley,
Speaker 1: Kevin Henry, Andrew Mallard, and the many unknown names of Australians,
Speaker 1: but more particularly Aboriginal in terrestrate Islander peoples who are
Speaker 1: in prison right now for crimes they didn't commit. I
Speaker 1: hope people will express their displeasure at this and call
Speaker 1: on the ABC to use the resources we provide as
Speaker 1: taxpayers and we provide given they live and profit on
Speaker 1: this land, to investigate the cases I've named and many more.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Western Australia where Andrew Mallard once called home,
Speaker 1: once again we have to report there's been a death
Speaker 1: in custody. Because this podcast goes out to a range
Speaker 1: of community radio stations, and is listened to by the
Speaker 1: Aboriginal entur Austrade Islander community across Australia. I will not
Speaker 1: name the young woman who died in police custody. Her
Speaker 1: name has been used in the public, but it's quite
Speaker 1: possible that family members of hers are unaware of her
Speaker 1: death or that it would be further distressing to those
Speaker 1: listening today. But what we can tell you is that
Speaker 1: this was another case of mistaken identity. The young mother
Speaker 1: of three was arrested and held on the ground inside
Speaker 1: her own mother's house in Victoria Park in Western Australia.
Speaker 1: Up to eight police officers held her down and screamed
Speaker 1: a name. It was not her name. It was a
Speaker 1: case of mistaken identity, As her mother said, they did
Speaker 1: not turn the lights on and they manhandled my daughter
Speaker 1: to the ground where she urinated herself. This was all
Speaker 1: while calling her a different name. We know that from
Speaker 1: both sides, both police the family, that at least six
Speaker 1: officers were involved in physically detaining the young woman. They
Speaker 1: failed to properly check her identity and only did so
Speaker 1: after they were repeatedly told they had the wrong person.
Speaker 1: Police then claim that after her identity was ascertained she
Speaker 1: was left in the care of a family member. We
Speaker 1: do not know if this is true at this stage.
Speaker 1: It's hard to believe anything the Western Australian Police say.
Speaker 1: But some twenty minutes later police came into contact with
Speaker 1: this young woman again. They state she was behaving erratically. Again,
Speaker 1: we only have the police's version of events. She was
Speaker 1: then handcuffed and taken away. During this process of being
Speaker 1: taken to the police station, she lost consciousness and the
Speaker 1: handcuffs were removed and police and paramedics commenced CPR. They
Speaker 1: state she was revived and taken by ambulance to Royal
Speaker 1: Perth Hospital. She was there placed an induced coma, but
Speaker 1: sadly for her young children, her mother, her family and
Speaker 1: her community, she passed away. This is absolutely what we
Speaker 1: call a death in custody, a black death in custody.
Speaker 1: There is absolutely no suggestion that this young woman committed
Speaker 1: any crime. There was no reason for the police to
Speaker 1: be in her mother's home, let alone holding this young
Speaker 1: woman to the ground. Remember more than six, possibly eight
Speaker 1: police officers holding her down, and there was no reason
Speaker 1: for them to put handcuffs on her. At a later time.
Speaker 1: The police claim this was done for her own safety.
Speaker 1: How can it be safe if she's now dead once again.
Speaker 1: The findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in
Speaker 1: Custody twenty eight years ago show that all the recommendations
Speaker 1: that were come to nearly three decades ago must be
Speaker 1: put into place and must be implemented. They have not,
Speaker 1: and nearly three decades later, a young woman has needlessly
Speaker 1: lost her life at the hands of police. What makes
Speaker 1: this case even more shocking, if it could be any
Speaker 1: more shocking, is the young woman's father died in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety nine as a result of a death in custody.
Speaker 1: Both he and his daughter were twenty six years old
Speaker 1: when they died at the hands of the Western Australian State.
Speaker 1: Twenty six years old. These are young people, young people
Speaker 1: whose health should never have been in a position for
Speaker 1: police to claim endlessly that natural causes is what caused
Speaker 1: them to die. Young people who shouldn't have needed any
Speaker 1: contact with police. But as you've heard, this young woman
Speaker 1: whose name the police had wrong it was a mistaken identity,
Speaker 1: barged into the mother's home in the middle of the
Speaker 1: night and pinned her to the ground. Police might claim
Speaker 1: natural causes, but doctors at the Royal Perth Hospital have
Speaker 1: told the family the young woman's injuries included a two
Speaker 1: inch gap between two of the vertebrae at the back
Speaker 1: of her neck. That is not a natural death. That
Speaker 1: is a death at the hands of police. At least
Speaker 1: four hundred and eleven people Aboriginal in Torres Strait Islander
Speaker 1: people have died since the Royal Commission into Black Deaths
Speaker 1: in custody. Now we have to add another young Aboriginal person,
Speaker 1: a mother, a daughter, a community member, and this family
Speaker 1: deserves justice. The community in Western Australia deserve justice and
Speaker 1: the police have to be held accountable. Young people in
Speaker 1: the prime of their life do not die for no reason.
Speaker 1: They die because things like a two inch gap is
Speaker 1: later found in the back of their vertebrae. That is
Speaker 1: not a natural cause. Something happened and the coroner in
Speaker 1: Western Australia must get to the bottom of it and
Speaker 1: will continue to update you on this case. Sadly, that's
Speaker 1: not all the bad news to report. In Victoria, in
Speaker 1: a case that's recently come to light, there is the
Speaker 1: story of proud Yorda Yorder woman Arnie Tanya Day Arnie
Speaker 1: Tanya was fifty five years old at the time. She
Speaker 1: loved her family, she always had a smile on her
Speaker 1: face and she was active both online and in the
Speaker 1: community in raising awareness about issues affecting Aboriginal people, and
Speaker 1: her last post on Facebook was to highlight a black
Speaker 1: death in custody in New South Wales, a cause she
Speaker 1: was passionately supporting and she was in the process of
Speaker 1: helping to raise funds for the affected young man's family.
Speaker 1: On that day, Unie Tania boarded a train in rural
Speaker 1: Victoria headed for Melbourne, where she was going to visit family,
Speaker 1: but she never got to her family. Somewhere along that journey,
Speaker 1: Miss Day had fallen asleep. It's believed she'd been drinking
Speaker 1: on the day, but how much is not known. She
Speaker 1: was woken and startled by a conductor asking to see
Speaker 1: her ticket. According to them, she seemed confused and couldn't
Speaker 1: find her ticket. The ticket inspector called the police, who
Speaker 1: arrived from Castle Maine, and Arnie Tanna was arrested for
Speaker 1: public drunkenness. She was then taken to the Castlemaine Police station,
Speaker 1: and this was for the purposes according to Victoria Police
Speaker 1: of sobering up. But by the end of that day,
Speaker 1: rather than being with her family, Untitanya was unconscious and
Speaker 1: in hospital. Seventeen days after being detained, she died. What
Speaker 1: happened is still being investigated by a coronial process that
Speaker 1: continues to this day. Later, i'll share information of how
Speaker 1: you can support the family, and there is another event
Speaker 1: tomorrow Tuesday that we would encourage you to attend. When
Speaker 1: miss Day's son was notified, Warren was told that she
Speaker 1: had a small knock to the noggin but that she
Speaker 1: was fine. Clearly that is not true. Miss Day was
Speaker 1: taken by ambulance to the Bendigo Hospital and when her
Speaker 1: children arrived, the site was shocking. Her daughter April describes
Speaker 1: she was on the bed, she had tubes and she
Speaker 1: was strapped down, But it was the bruise that was
Speaker 1: on her head that was the most noticeable because I
Speaker 1: thought to myself, for it to be that big and
Speaker 1: that black, she must have really hurt herself. What we
Speaker 1: don't know is how Auntie Tanya became so injured. What
Speaker 1: we don't know is how Auntie Tanya received that mortal
Speaker 1: wound that he's still being investigated. As I say, by
Speaker 1: a coronial inquest. Victoria Police have commented a number of
Speaker 1: times that it would be inappropriate to provide comment on
Speaker 1: the matter because it is before the coroner. But Curtin
Speaker 1: the podcast is unafraid to call to the public attention
Speaker 1: the issues that the case of Arnie Tanna Curly highlights.
Speaker 1: One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal
Speaker 1: debts in custody was to abolish the crime of public drunkenness.
Speaker 1: It was clear twenty eight years ago that this was
Speaker 1: a law used to target Aboriginal and Torrestraate Island at people.
Speaker 1: It's still in Victoria has not been abolished. Just like
Speaker 1: the family in Western Australia, the Day family in Victoria
Speaker 1: also lost a loved one. Arnie Tagner's late uncle, Harrison Day,
Speaker 1: died in police custody for not paying a fine for
Speaker 1: public drunkenness. His death was examined by the Royal Commission.
Speaker 1: But what is public drunkenness and why is it still
Speaker 1: a crime in Victoria. Public drunkenness is quite simply as
Speaker 1: the name suggests, being drunk in public. This is purely
Speaker 1: down to the discretion of the police officers who attend
Speaker 1: each individual case. We have no idea on that day
Speaker 1: how much alcohol Arnie Tagna had consumed, but that it
Speaker 1: was purely at the discretion of the police to remove
Speaker 1: her from the train instead of allowing her to continue
Speaker 1: to see her family, and to place her in a cell.
Speaker 1: They say they did that for her own protection and
Speaker 1: her own safety. Just like the young woman who died
Speaker 1: in least custody in Western Australia. How could it be
Speaker 1: for Arnie Tanya's safety to put her in a cell where,
Speaker 1: for reasons yet to be determined, she died before the
Speaker 1: police arrived. She was on a train asleep, heading to
Speaker 1: family in Melbourne. We do not know what happened in
Speaker 1: that cell, but we do know there was no reason
Speaker 1: to arrest Arnie Tanna on that day. How and why
Speaker 1: do we know this picture Melbourne On any winter weekend,
Speaker 1: roughly two hundred thousand people each weekend attend AFL football
Speaker 1: matches at the stadiums that dot Melbourne and Greater Victoria.
Speaker 1: Large amounts of alcohol are served. People leave that public
Speaker 1: stadium and enter into the public domain. Some go straight
Speaker 1: home via public transport, Others go on to restaurants, nightclubs,
Speaker 1: and about their business. Why those people never arrested. Expand
Speaker 1: it further, If public drunkenness is such a crime, why
Speaker 1: is every single person who leaves a pub or a
Speaker 1: club having consumed alcohol not arrested the moment they step
Speaker 1: on the footpath. The answer is quite obvious. Only Aboriginal
Speaker 1: people are targeted by this law, and that is exactly
Speaker 1: why the Royal Commission in nineteen ninety one, twenty eight
Speaker 1: long years ago, recommended that this law be scrapped. But
Speaker 1: let's look also at the actions of police. Go to
Speaker 1: any capital city in Australia on any night and near
Speaker 1: the districts where pubs and clubs flourish. Young people, old people,
Speaker 1: people of every background are seen outside of these pubs
Speaker 1: and clubs and walking the streets heavily intoxicated. Many are
Speaker 1: so drunk they're violently ill. These people are not detained
Speaker 1: and handcuffed by police and put in a cell. These people,
Speaker 1: if they are so sick they are at risk to
Speaker 1: their own health, have an ambulance called and they're taken
Speaker 1: to the hospital, or they are placed in the care
Speaker 1: of a friend or a family member and taken home,
Speaker 1: either by police by private transport, or via public transport.
Speaker 1: They're not arrested simply for doing something that is completely
Speaker 1: legal in Australia, consuming alcohol. So again we have to
Speaker 1: ask why was Aunt Tania targeted. This was not late
Speaker 1: at night. She was harming nobody, She was causing trouble
Speaker 1: to nobody. No one had complained, There was no issue
Speaker 1: other than being an Aboriginal woman on a train going
Speaker 1: to see her family. What makes this even more infuriating
Speaker 1: is that Artie Tanna was doing exactly the thing police
Speaker 1: and public health officials always ask the entire community to
Speaker 1: do that if you've been drinking, not to drive, take
Speaker 1: public transport, take a taxi, call a friend, do anything
Speaker 1: but get behind the wheel. Arnie Tanna did exactly that
Speaker 1: and boarded a train. But rather than being allowed to
Speaker 1: continue to her loving family and her children, she was
Speaker 1: placed in a cell, the most dangerous place in Australia
Speaker 1: for any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the
Speaker 1: custody of or in one of their cells, just like
Speaker 1: the young woman in Western Australia, Just like so many
Speaker 1: Aboriginal Arrestraate Islander people who have died in custody, Arnie
Speaker 1: Tanya was in good health. She was fifty five, but
Speaker 1: she was a young fifty five. She was a member
Speaker 1: of her local gym, She ate good food, and having
Speaker 1: previously suffered trauma in her life, she was doing what
Speaker 1: we hope for all of our loved ones, for all
Speaker 1: of our community members, for anyone in our society. She
Speaker 1: was making the most of her life, a life cruelly
Speaker 1: cut short by police. And even as they continue to
Speaker 1: battle for justice for Arnie Tena, her family continue to
Speaker 1: be treated as poorly as their mother was. During hearings
Speaker 1: into just what happened to their mother, a police officer
Speaker 1: entered the building carrying a paper bag that contained the
Speaker 1: belongings of Arnie Tenure. Her family had been trying to
Speaker 1: get those belongings back since she passed away. In front
Speaker 1: of her children, that police officer sat with the paper
Speaker 1: bag with her belongings at his feet. Why couldn't those
Speaker 1: belongings have been given back to her family? Why did
Speaker 1: a police officer have to so clearly make them visible
Speaker 1: in front of her children who were in their grief
Speaker 1: a fighting to get justice for their mum. Clearly, if
Speaker 1: Victoria police can't treat a person with respect and dignity
Speaker 1: and death. They can't do it when someone is living.
Speaker 1: Continue to update you on just what occurs in the
Speaker 1: coronial inquest into the death of Arnie Tanner day, but
Speaker 1: please support the family on social media. You can follow
Speaker 1: their Instagram and Facebook accounts at Justice for Tenure Day.
Speaker 1: There you'll also find a petition that we would urge
Speaker 1: you to sign that is calling on the Premiere of
Speaker 1: Victoria Daniel Andrews to immediately abolish these ridiculous and inhumane
Speaker 1: laws that deal with public drunkenness, designed to target Aboriginal
Speaker 1: and Torres Strait Islander people and that leads to so
Speaker 1: many unnecessary and unlawful deaths. No more families should suffer
Speaker 1: and as we call for this, please rally around Arnie
Speaker 1: Tanner's family tomorrow. You can do so by attending a
Speaker 1: direction's hearing at the Coroner's Court into South Bank, Melbourne
Speaker 1: at ten am. That's Tuesday, the thirtieth of April. These cruel,
Speaker 1: needless and unjust deaths will only stop when Australia turns
Speaker 1: and faces the original sin of this country, the continued
Speaker 1: murdering and destruction of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres
Speaker 1: straight Islander people and that can't change. While the national
Speaker 1: broadcast of the ABC continues to place its focus on
Speaker 1: the United States, we show our solidarity always on curtain
Speaker 1: the podcast with those fighting for justice around the world.
Speaker 1: Here you've heard about cases like Rodney Reid in Texas,
Speaker 1: but it's time the world turns their attention to what's
Speaker 1: being done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people like
Speaker 1: Kevin Henry, like Miss Dew, like Derek Bromley, like Miss Marr,
Speaker 1: and like so many others. Call for the change and
Speaker 1: be active in creating that change, and we'll walk with you.
Speaker 1: That was kurtin the podcast.