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Five years on, Doomadgee death investigators facing discipline
Michael McKenna and Tony Koch From: The Australian November 19, 2009 12:00AM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/five-years-on-doomadgee-deat...

SENIOR officers who investigated the 2004 death in custody of Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee are expected to face disciplinary action following a damning Crime and Misconduct Commission report that accuses Queensland police of "protecting their own".

On the fifth anniversary of Doomadgee's watchhouse death, which sparked riots in the Aboriginal community off Townsville, the yet-to-be finalised CMC report has condemned police handling of the initial investigation and rejected the findings of an internal police review into their handling of the case.

The long-overdue report was ordered in 2006 after Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements slammed the death-in-custody investigation as lacking "transparency, objectivity and independence".

Police handed a 266-page report to the CMC last year recommending only "managerial guidance" of the four police investigators - two of whom were friends of Palm Island senior sergeant Chris Hurley, who was charged and acquitted in 2007 of Doomadgee's manslaughter.

In an explosive revelation, Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner Alan MacSporran confirmed yesterday he had accepted a brief to represent the Queensland Police Service at the second coronial inquest into Doomadgee's death, to be held in February.

Mr MacSporran will appear for the QPS at tomorrow's inquest directions hearings in Townsville.

Neither he nor the parliamentary crime and misconduct committee have initiated any action in response to the repeated public complaints about delays in investigating Doomadgee's death.

Mr MacSporran yesterday denied any conflict of interest in representing the QPS. "I have not been asked to investigate any matters in respect of this issue, so I have no conflict," he said.

Indigenous leaders and lawyers have accused the CMC and police of double standards over the five-year wait, with rioters jailed within months of the violence, and officers who stared down the mob given bravery awards last year.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service chief executive Shane Duffy said Queensland's indigenous community had waited too long for the investigation to be finalised. "Why the delay if there is nothing to hide and nothing to fear?" Mr Duffy asked.

During the first inquest, Ms Clements was told the Townsville Regional Crime Co-ordinator Warren Webber had appointed two of Sergeant Hurley's friends - Palm Island detective Darren Robinson and Townsville-based detective Raymond Kitching - to investigate Doomadgee's death.

The detectives were picked up at the Palm Island airport by Sergeant Hurley, and then shared a meal and beers with the officer at his home on the night of Doomadgee's death, on November 19.

The inquest was told that the officers had failed to secure the scene where the injury that claimed Doomadgee's life occurred, and that the officers were involved in off-the-record discussions with Sergeant Hurley during their six-day investigation.

Another internal investigation into the case - specifically dealing with the $102,955 ex-gratia payment Sergeant Hurley received for property lost in the riots that followed Doomadgee's death, and an insurance claim he lodged for property valued at a third of that amount - is ongoing.

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Silence and delay over cell death shame far north
COMMENT: Tony Koch
From: The Australian November 19, 2009 12:00AM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/silence-and-delay-over-cell...

ANYONE who doubts that two- speed justice exists in Queensland need only consider the much delayed Crime and Misconduct Commission investigation into the death in custody of Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee.

On October 30, 2006, former Beattie government minister Merri Rose met her former press secretary in the Brisbane City mall and asked him to deliver a threat to premier Peter Beattie that certain allegedly embarrassing information would be made public if she was not given a plum job.

The message was relayed, the Crime and Misconduct Commission chairman, Bob Needham, was informed the same day and an investigation began. On November 9, 2006, Rose was charged with extortion -- to which she pleaded guilty and was jailed.

So it took the CMC -- the state's anti-corruption watchdog organisation -- 10 days to receive the complaint, complete the investigation and lay charges.

Compare that response with the case of Doomadgee, who was arrested on Palm Island on November 19, 2004, for disorderly conduct. He had sworn at a police liaison officer in a back street. Less than an hour later, he was dead in a cell, having sustained horrific injuries including four broken ribs and with his liver cleaved in two.

The appallingly inadequate investigation by police into the death in custody spoke volumes about the Queensland Police Service's lack of professionalism. It was so demonstrably woeful that the CMC undertook an inquiry into the investigation. But five years have elapsed since the death of the Aboriginal man and that inquiry has not been finalised.

The revelation that the parliamentary officer with the statutory responsibility to oversee CMC investigations and refer any official complaints he receives to that committee is to leave his position and act for the Queensland Police Service at the second inquest into Mulrunji's death is another incredible event in this sad saga.

Alan MacSporran SC yesterday said he had not received any formal complaint about the time taken for the CMC investigation so had not seen any need to take any action.

They are weasel words as there has been trenchant criticism in all media, but particularly The Australian, for more than two years about the delays.

The failure to gain closure on Doomadgee's death is attributable to the complete absence of political leadership -- particularly that of former police minister (and former Aboriginal affairs minister) Judy Spence, who had ministerial responsibility for most of the period since the death.

She applauded the quick justice meted out to the Palm Islanders who rioted a week after Doomadgee's death and burned police buildings. But she went missing when it came to standing up for Aboriginal people when it was clear to all that police had acted inappropriately time and again.

The long-awaited CMC investigation has open to it only two possible findings with regard to the police investigation into the violent death in custody of Doomadgee.

They are that the police were involved in a shameless cover-up, or that these senior officers were grossly inefficient.

Your call, Mr Needham.

New inquest into Palm Island death of Mulrunji Doomadgee
Courier Mail
June 16, 2009 10:26am
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25643646-3102,00.html

.THE Court of Appeal has ordered the re-opening of a coronial inquest into the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee which led to the 2004 Palm Island riots.

The Court found while a judge had made the correct decision to set aside a coroner's finding on Mulrunji's death he had done it on a "flawed" basis.
Therefore the matter had to go back to a re-opened inquiry.

It will be the third coronial inquest into the death after the original inquiry by State Coroner Michael Barnes was stopped after an application by the Queensland Police Union.

In 2006, Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements found Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley was responsible for the death in custody of Mulrunji after he was arrested on a public nuisance charge .

However, in 2007, Sen-Sgt Hurley was acquitted by a jury of manslaughter and assault charges over the death.

Then in December last year, in the District Court in Townsville, Judge Bob Pack set aside the findings of Ms Clements on how Mulrunji died and ordered the inquest to be reopened.

Mulrunji's family and the Palm Island Aboriginal Council took the decision to the Court of Appeal asking that Judge Pack's decision be overturned..

In an unanimous judgment today, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal but then set aside the findings of Ms Clements on how Mulrunji died.

Read the judgment in full here
http://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2009/QCA09-167.pdf

"We conclude the finding of the coroner (Ms Clements) that punching by Mr Hurley caused the fatal injuries sustained by the deceased was not reasonably open on the evidence.

"Accordingly, the decision of the District Court that this finding by the coroner should be set aside was correct even though the process of reasoning whereby the judge arrived at that decision was flawed.

"We emphasise that we are not to be taken as expressing a view as to what findings of fact should ultimately be made – that is not this court's function,"

It then ordered the inquest be re-opened but with a different coroner to examine how Mulrunji died.

Outside court, Sam Watson, an Aboriginal community worker, said he felt sorry for Mulrunji's family and the people of Palm Island.

He said it appeared a case where police were trying to conceal the truth and rewrite history.

"I was hoping the court today would have closed it off ...it should have been allowed to rest there," Mr Watson said.

However, Acting President of the Queensland Police Union, Ian Leavers, said the union welcomed the decision and would continue to support Sgt Hurley every step of the way

Court told police officer bashed tourist, shoved hose in his mouth
By Peter Michael
Courier Mail
April 02, 2009 12:00am
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25276341-952,00.html

A FORMER Queensland police officer allegedly bashed and kicked a handcuffed tourist unconscious before nearly drowning him by jamming a fire hose into his mouth.

Former senior constable Benjamin Thomas Price, 32, yesterday faced Proserpine Court for committal on six counts of assault on three victims.

Police whistleblower Constable Bree Sonter broke down in tears as video of the alleged attack outside Airlie Beach police station was shown to the court.

The emotional father of the alleged victim stunned the court as he stood and yelled: "You're a brave man Price, I hope you get a fire hose jammed up your a - - - in jail".

Timothy Steele, 24, a plasterer from NSW, suffered a broken nose, black eyes, a head wound, hearing problems, memory loss and lack of sensation in his arms and hands after his arrest in the popular Whitsundays tourist town on May 24 last year.

He told the court he was trying to break-up a fight between two mates when he was capsicum sprayed by Sonter. It is alleged Price led the handcuffed Steele to a police car before saying "watch your head" and smashing his face into the vehicle, knocking him unconscious.

Price allegedly dragged Steele from the car outside Airlie Beach watchhouse, repeatedly punched him and "kicked him with his boots" in the face, breaking his nose.

CCTV video footage from the police station shows a dazed, heavily bleeding Steele being dragged into an alley beside the watchhouse. It shows the handcuffed man being punched in the head before having a fire hose jammed into his mouth, where it was held for up to 90 seconds as another officer watches.

Steele screams and groans in agony and blood can be seen sheeting down the concrete path as the policeman stands on the handcuffs, pressing his hand into the back of the man's neck, forcing his head into his lap in a brutal spine lock.

"I felt like I was going to drown," Steele told the court.

"He jammed the hose into my mouth. I couldn't breathe. I was coughing and spluttering blood. It was pretty scary. It went on for a long time.

"I called him a pussy. He knocked me about. I was pretty dazed, I'd had a boot to my face, my nose was broken. I was choking on my own blood, I felt like I was drowning."

Constable Sonter, now based at Sandgate, broke down as she told how she could hear Steele screaming for help.

"I could hear Price yelling 'you like that' and then a smack sound, it sounded like a punch, and Steele went quiet," she told the court.

The strongly built former officer, who now works as a tree-cutter, also allegedly repeatedly punched another man in the face during an argument about urinating in public.

He also is accused of assaulting tourist Renee Tomms.

Price, who has not yet entered a plea, is represented by Queensland Police Union barrister Steve Zillman.

COMMENT: Tony Koch | February 27, 2009
Article from: The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,25112618-7583,00.html

THE Mabuiag Island rape scandal is just another example of how impotent Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission has become.

The organisation, which costs taxpayers $40 million a year, handed the case of the nurse raped in quarters provided by the Health Department - and the Health Department's response - back to the Health Department to investigate. It does the same with most complaints, including those about police using a Taser gun on a 16-year-old girl being held down on the ground, which were handed back to the police.

We have been waiting four years - and still are - for the result of the CMC inquiry, given over to the police, into the investigation of the death of Cameron Doomadgee at the Palm Island watchhouse.

Former premier Peter Beattie watered down the powers of the CMC, formerly the CJC, so much that the organisation is now an expensive ornament serving no real purpose.

The Opposition claims the CMC has gone from watchdog to lapdog. That is difficult to reject, given the overwhelming evidence. The CMC should be abolished, as this latest case clearly shows.

For a rape investigation to be given back to an inept department to investigate itself is an insult to the intelligence of all citizens, and another slap in the face to the attacked nurse. The Health Department did not provide safe accommodation on Mabuiag Island, despite having been warned for four years that the situation was critical. It then treated her with disdain when she was so dreadfully assaulted.

Now, a year later, the officer on Thursday Island is stood down. That should have happened the morning after The Australian reported the matter a year ago.

Yet again, the Health Department has shown it is not capable of running its own affairs, and the Queensland Government has yet again relied on the wimpy CMC to get it off the hook.

It is to be hoped that parents who have daughters working in remote parts of Queensland as nurses, teachers, police or in other public service positions note how the Bligh Government values their children, and give it appropriate consideration when casting their vote on March 21.

Doomadgee affair demands an inquiry
December 20, 2008
Article from: The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24825137-16741,00.html

Flaws in Queensland law enforcement must be remedied

QUEENSLAND has come a long way in the past 20 years. But the state's response to the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee is an embarrassing throwback to the bad old days of hillbilly justice.

The flaws that have been highlighted by the Doomadgee affair are so serious that a remedy is beyond the capacity of the judiciary. The state Government can no longer wash its hands of this affair and allow justice to take its course. In this case, justice has been undermined. Premier Anna Bligh must act.

A broad inquiry by the Crime and Misconduct Commission is now necessary as a first step towards repairing the flaws at the heart of the law and justice system that have been highlighted by this affair.

No matter how hard judges and coroners might try, they cannot overcome the scandalous lack of professionalism among police that is the real issue in the Doomadgee affair. This cannot be allowed to happen again.

Modern Queensland, which leads the nation is so many areas, must be cringing over the bumpkin-like shenanigans that have made it impossible to ever determine what really happened in the hours before Doomadgee died a lonely, painful death in the police watchhouse on Palm Island.

This week's instalment in the saga is yet another inadequate response. Townsville District Court judge Bob Pack has overturned the coroner's finding that Mr Doomadgee died as a result of punches thrown by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley.

Sergeant Hurley was acquitted of manslaughter last year.

There is now a huge gulf in this affair. If the policeman was not responsible for Doomadgee's death, who was? Did he cleave his own liver in two?

At first blush, it might look as though a second coronial inquest - which was ordered by the judge - might find some answers. But it won't.

All that will happen is that another judicial officer will review the evidence that was placed before the first coroner. Because of the seriousness of this matter, it would be appropriate for this responsibility to be given to a judge, rather than a coroner.

But whoever reviews the evidence will be in an impossible position: the evidence, because of amateurish conduct by police, is incomplete and tainted by the perception of bias. The police who gathered that evidence were Sergeant Hurley's friends - people who socialised with him before asking him how Doomadgee died.

They shared a beer and a meal before getting down to the business of establishing what had happened. That would certainly have damaged community confidence in the impartiality of the police.

But what are we to make of the later conduct by Sergeant Hurley's colleagues? They co-operated with the prosecution in the manslaughter trial only after being ordered to do so by the Police Commissioner.

All sworn officers should understand that their duty - their only duty - is to assist law enforcement and the justice system. Helping mates is an indulgence that must be abandoned when police take their oath of office. They serve the law, not each other.

Even if the second inquest were inclined to take fresh evidence, that too would be impossible. It is more than four years since this tragic incident and many of the people with something to say are dead.

The second inquest, therefore, will be unable to come to grips with the specifics of this case. It will tell us nothing new about the death of Doomadgee and will merely be drawing conclusions on the basis of an incomplete set of facts.

The shocking truth, therefore, is that if someone is responsible for the death of Doomadgee, that person will probably get away with it - thanks to police ineptitude.

The lax approach by police to this man's death forms a sharp contrast with the rigour with which police pursued the rioters who later damaged police property on Palm Island. Lex Wotton was jailed last month for six years for his role in that riot.

So while Queensland justice holds nobody responsible for a man's death, the same system has acted promptly - and appropriately - to punish a man for an offence against property.

While the botched inquiry by the police has made it impossible to know what really happened in the Palm Island watchhouse, it is not too late to prevent a repeat of this affair. The law enforcement system is responsible for this tragedy, and it is the system that needs reform.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission, which has the powers of a standing royal commission, was established to address exactly this sort of problem. It should be given a wide brief and told to get to the bottom of what went wrong inside the police force. Of necessity, that will require a fresh attempt to get to the truth of this case. But the primary goal must be to identify, and then remedy, the systemic failures within the police force.

In the quest for truth, the commission stands a far better chance of succeeding than a mere court. It can compel people to give evidence and is not bound by the rules of evidence that limit the information than can be placed before criminal courts.

Even if lax policing enjoys the support of some of those in rural Queensland, it is anathema elsewhere. And with a state election not too far away, Ms Bligh might be held to account unless she can show that her Government supports one standard of law enforcement for all Queenslanders.

Andrew Fraser and Sarah Elks | December 20, 2008
Article from: The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24826014-5006786,00.html

PRESSURE is growing on the Bligh Government to establish a royal commission into the events that led to the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island four years ago.

District Court judge Robert Park on Thursday rejected previous coronial findings that Doomadgee had died as a result of three punches thrown by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, and recommended the inquest be reopened next year.

But the Queensland parliament's Speaker and the member for the electorate that contains Palm Island, Mike Reynolds, said yesterday only a royal commission could clear the air. The call was backed by Palm Island indigenous leaders.

Mr Reynolds said a royal commission would have more powers than an inquest. One area that needed scrutiny was the original investigation by officers from Townsville.

"This whole area of police investigating other police is one that needs to be clarified," he said. "It needs to be part of an open, transparent process, and there's signs in this instance that that's not been the case."

The Queensland Police Service has undertaken a review of the investigation, but despite the events happening four years ago, the results of the investigation were handed to the state's Crime and Misconduct Commission only three weeks ago.

A spokesman for the CMC said that their review of the police investigation would most likely be released next week.

Andrew Boe, the solicitor representing Doomadgee's family, also called for a royal commission, pointing out that Sergeant Hurley had on two occasions given evidence that his physical contact with Doomadgee had killed him.

Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey said a royal commission was necessary as it would give "some certainty to uncertain issues that remain".

"If we can't get an answer from a royal commission, then it goes back to the point that indigenous people say about justice: When will there be justice for indigenous people?"

Mr Lacey said the community was calm in the wake of the District Court's decision to reopen the inquest. "Everything's generally OK ... It's a couple of days coming into Christmas and people are looking forward to spending time with their families; it's putting a dampener on the atmosphere," he said. "But Palm is a bit too strong to be worried about going back into the gutters."

Former mayor and manager of the Palm Island safe haven for women and children Delena Foster said a royal commission would help to give closure to the Doomadgee family and the broader community.

"The death in custody really rocked our community," she said. "In this day and age, you wouldn't think that would happen ... You could see the recommendations from the royal commission into deaths in custody weren't even in place."

(The paper actually printed the article with the heading "Coroner's initial finding set aside" with a big black by-line "Hurley's triumph" on p 3 )

Townsville Bulletin
Doomadgee inquest to be reopened

MALCOLM WEATHERUP

December 19th, 2008
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/12/19/28931_hpnews.html

THE Coroner's inquest into the death-in-custody of Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee is to be reopened, and the circumstances of his death re-examined by another coroner.

The reopening was ordered yesterday by District Judge Bob Pack, who set aside the findings by the then-Acting State Coroner Christine Clements that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley `lost his temper and hit Mulrunji after falling to the floor inside the Palm Island police station, thereby causing the fatal injuries' and that `he hit Mulrunji while he was on the floor a number of times'.

Judge Pack decided the available facts didn't measure up to Coroner Clements' conclusions.

"I am satisfied those findings cannot reasonably be supported by the evidence .... and I conclude the Coroner's findings are against the weight of the evidence," Judge Pack wrote in his judgment.

"The medical evidence does not favour the conclusion that the fatal injury was caused by punching. In my opinion, the medical evidence was significantly stronger that a conclusion that a knee or elbow in the course of the fall was a possible means by which the injury occurred."

Judge Pack made his findings when ruling in favour of an application by Sen-Sgt Hurley that the coroner's findings be set aside.

In a 24-page judgment, the judge said he did not believe that all the medical evidence had been understood, that the coroner had not given that evidence `sufficient weight' and that some of the inferences against Hurley, which played a significant role in the coroner's conclusions, should not have been drawn.

"There is evidence supporting the proposition Hurley fell on Mulrunji (so) the hypothosis of an accidental death cannot reasonably be excluded," the judge wrote.

Judge Pack was of the opinion that Coroner Clements relied more than she should have on other inferences in evidence, including an `erroneous recollection' by a witness in the police station.

Judge Pack questioned the reasoning on a number of issues in Cornoner Clement's findings, including her conclusion that Sen-Sgt Hurley changed his evidence when he learned the extent and nature of the injuries that led to Mulrunji's death.

"(The coroner's) reference to `belated recollection' and `changed evidence' appears to me to be an inappropriate description," he said.

Judge Pack also questioned the conclusion that the police officer had lost his temper, either when punched on the way into the police station, or because of the fall.

"It is difficult to conclude that a police officer, who was experiencing something common enough in nearly 20 years of service, would have lost his temper, even after a fall."

There was a muted and measured reponse on Palm Island to the news.

Mayor Alf Lacey said that on legal advice, there was little he could say, except that he had been advised by lawyers for Mulrunji's family that there may be grounds to appeal against Judge Pack's findings.

He said he did not believe this new development in the long-running tragedy would result in any public disturbance.

He said islanders were just getting ready for a quiet Christmas after a turbulent couple of years, and the feeling was that the legal side of things would be allowed to run its course.

The police union also kept a low profile.

Spokesman Ross Musgrove said the union was pleased with Judge Pack's findings because they supported the union's stance from the beginning.

He said Sen-Sgt Hurley was relieved by the outcome.

"But everybody knows that this is just yet another step in a long process, and none of us must lose sight of the fact that the Doomadgee family have lost a loved one," Mr Musgrove said.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said she understood some people would be upset by the decision.

"I understand there would be a number of people distressed that there will be another inquest into the death of this young man, but in our legal system people are entitled to seek an appeal,'' Ms Bligh said.

``That's what's happened here and I think that reflects the health of our system."

Royal commission only route

COMMENT: Tony Koch | December 19, 2008
Article from: The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24821739-5013479,00.html

QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh should now establish a royal commission to inquire into the death in police custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee.

Judge Robert Pack's ruling yesterday that coroner Christine Clements' findings, that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley was responsible for the death of Mulrunji on November 19, 2004, should be re-examined by another coroner come as no surprise to anybody with the barest knowledge of this tragic case.

Because of the disgracefully inadequate and shoddy "investigation" into the death in custody by Townsville-based police, several of whom were close friends of Hurley, Clements was presented with only half the truth.

The police involved in the Hurley case have been investigated, but the results have not been released, even though it has taken more than two years. In that time, several have been promoted in rank.

Nobody has suggested Hurley deliberately set out to kill Mulrunji, but he admitted at the trial last year at which he was found not guilty of manslaughter that his actions must have resulted in the man's death.

That is obvious; nobody else touched him. But the whole truth will not come from any coronial inquest because the key evidence - the statements taken and investigation done by the police - lacked the professionalism to ensure that all possibilities were covered.

There were three other police at the scene when Mulrunji was taken into the cell - and none of them saw anything that resembled an unlawful assault by Hurley. In fact one of them, police liaison officer Bengaroo, made sure he saw nothing by deliberately not looking, according to his evidence.

Another who had been there for just a day, said he saw his sergeant and the Aboriginal prisoner fall to the floor, but he did not get up from his desk to assist or to investigate further. That does not seem to be the usual response of police who have a colleague who might be in trouble in an apparently violent incident.

However, that was his evidence and investigating police apparently considered it quite plausible.

The only possible way to get to the truth is to have a royal commission, where all people involved have to tell all the truth. That would be the fair outcome for Hurley and also the grieving Doomadgee family.

Anything less would merely be a continuation of a shameful farce that has brought no credit whatever on the people involved whose responsibility it is to ensure that justice is delivered without fear or favour.

Lex Wotton jailed for rioting
MALCOLM WEATHERUP
Townsville Bulletin
November 8th, 2008
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/11/08/21381_hpnews.html

ABORIGINAL activist Lex Wotton, a leader of the Palm Island riot in November 2004, has been jailed for six years.

He will have to serve at least two years of his term, but because 110 days he has already spent in custody awaiting sentence was declared time already served, he will be able to apply for parole after June 18, 2010.

Judge Michael Shanahan told Wotton that a sentence of seven years was merited for a key figure in a civil disturbance which eventually cost more than $4 million, but the sentence was reduced by a year because twice during the riot, Wotton moved people away to allow the police to retreat safely.

Yet Judge Shanahan was also scathing in his comments about the police investigation into the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee, and suggested in subsequent responses, both the State and the Commonwealth `cannot be proud of themselves'.

He said the appointment of Detective Darren Robinson to investigate the death in custody was wrong, given he was to investigate a friend and a superior officer.
On November 26, 2004, a mob of islanders went on a fiery, rock-throwing rampage, after an open-air meeting heard details of the injuries to Mulrunji Doomadgee, the man who had died in police custody a week earlier.

After four years of legal manoeuvering, a Brisbane jury two weeks ago found Wotton guilty of incitement.

The final chapter in that four-year saga started when the 41-year-old Wotton, dressed in a smart dark suit, orange shirt and red tie, was led to the dock at 9.52am yesterday.

He was greeted with hesitant, muted applause and a shouted `We love you, brother' from the public gallery, which was largely restricted to family and friends.

Such was the national interest that media from around the country was seated in the 12 jury box chairs.

Prosecutor Michael Cowan produced precedent cases to back his call for a sentence `starting at 10 years', adding that he couldn't be more specific than that because there were no other like cases on record.

He asked the judge to note that on the Tuesday prior to the riot, Wotton had said, "What do you have to do to get action, burn government buildings down?".
"(His offending) included elements of premeditation," the prosecutor said.

Sydney-based defence barrister Clive Steirn SC emphasised Wotton's general reputation as a solid community leader who overcame early life problems with alcohol and drugs to become a teetotaller, non-smoker, a qualified tradesman and a man interested in religion who had played a leadership role in the Palm community.

Mr Steirn suggested that on the day of the riot, trouble started brewing when the then mayor Erykah Kyle had read out a statement to a lunchtime meeting in the town square which said a post-mortem examination on Mr Doomadgee said his death had been an accident.

Defence counsel suggested because Ms Kyle had not said that there was to be a CMC investigation and a proper coronial inquiry to follow, the listeners understood that that would be the end of any official action on the death and became angry.

They were then stirred up by an angry Wotton.
Judge Shanahan told Wotton that the attack was not based on race, but on police of both sexes and all colours (including an indigenous officer).

"To riot against the police is an affront to the law, ... and what had gone before (Mulrunji's death) cannot excuse the lawlessness, and cannot be tolerated," the judge said.

Judge Shanahan, citing the `horror and terror' faced by the police, told Wotton his actions had damaged relations between police and the wider indigenous community in Queensland.

"You have done irreparable damage to yourself and your community," the judge said, and then passed sentence.

Relatives and friends appeared stunned by the outcome, and many appeared relieved, surprised and almost jubilant.

Wotton hugged his family, and tousled the hair of young nephews, telling them `uncle will be home soon', before being taken from the courtroom.

Lex Wotton's mother speaks – we can handle this
Townsville Bulletin
November 8th, 2008
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/11/08/21391_hpnews.html

A TENSE but united crowd gathered in support of convicted rioter Lex Wotton as he was sentenced in Townsville yesterday.

Supporters started arriving just after 8am, dressed in black, yellow and red and bearing signs and banners.
On the front lawn, children dressed brightly in yellow and red ran and played while their parents stood talking quietly in groups.

Wotton was found guilty last month for his part in the riot, which was sparked by the death of Cameron `Mulrunji' Doomadgee in the Palm Island watch-house.

Arresting officer Sen-Sgt Chris Hurley was found not guilty of Mr Doomadgee's manslaughter last year.
Police kept a low profile yesterday, and two uniformed constables patrolling the courtroom entrance were the only visible police presence.

One wore a distinctive blue wristband with the number 6747 – Sen-Sgt Hurley's police number – stamped on it.

The officer didn't want to speak to the Townsville Bulletin about the wristband, which was among 12,000 sold last year to help with Sen-Sgt Hurley's legal costs.
Wotton's supporters yesterday wore black armbands.

Former Palm Island resident Jai Cummings was dressed in tribal costume with face and body paint in red and white – which he said were the colours of war.

Wotton's younger sister Gail arrived in tears and was comforted by her partner as she approached the court.

As the crowd swelled, the voices grew louder and a hefty media scrum gathered as Aboriginal poet Marcella `Maggie' Walsh read her poem, Where is the Justice? Blackfella still Lookin'.

Elder and activist Gracelyn Smallwood spoke of a $100,000 payout made to Sen-Sgt Hurley.

"Not one Palm Island person has received any type of compensation," she said.

Ms Smallwood said Wotton was a sacrificial lamb and likened him to political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela.

Before the sentencing, Wotton's son Lex junior said he was `nervous' and afraid of his father going to jail.

"I don't really know what's going on, I just came to see my father now and see what's going on," he said.
Wotton's mother Agnes led a chant of `burundjeji', meaning `great warrior' and held her grandchildren's hands as they approached the courtroom.

His brother Gerald said Wotton meant `the world' to him.

Another brother, who did not want his name published, said Wotton `should not be punished for standing up for his brother when he had been killed'.

"People will move on, it's not about choice, it's not about destiny – it's about dignity," he said.
With just 14 seats allocated for family and friends of Lex Wotton, the rest settled into a long, hot wait for the result.

For more than three hours, supporters sat quietly on the grass under the trees.

The peace was broken once when a uniformed police officer crossed the road nearby – some supporters stood up and shouted `Shame, coppers, shame'.

At 1.20pm the news trickled through that a sentence had been reached, and some of the crowd heckled legal representatives as they left.

"How do you sleep at night?," one woman asked.

"The world's going to know about this racist town and this racist state," one man yelled.

But Gerald Wotton emerged smiling, his arms raised in victory.

As a woman screamed `speak the truth', Ms Smallwood said she had expected a sentence of 10 years to life for Wotton.

"We're asking for everybody to pray and we can start talking about reconciliation," she said.
"I believe that we can move on now, and heal."

Agnes Wotton said she was looking forward to celebrating her son's homecoming.

"Well at least I know I can go and visit my son now and be close to him and the family and keep the family together for the next 19 months," she said.

"This is something we can take on board and handle as a family.

"At least I can go to bed and have a decent sleep and know that his life is very strong – he's one child I don't have to worry about.

"I'm really pleased that it turned out the way it did."

The family were planning a belated celebration for Wotton's wedding to his long-time partner Cecilia on October 2.

After hearing the sentence, Cecilia Wotton said her husband had told her to stay strong while he was in jail.
She said she was looking forward to the day Wotton returned home to his family on Palm Island.

"He asked the kids to look after me and I look after them," she said.

"It's going to be very good (when he's released) because we can celebrate our marriage.

"I'm feeling OK – Lex makes me strong. He gave me a kiss and a cuddle and I told him that I love him and he loves me."
– KATHLEEN SKENE

Lex Wotton jailed for six years
November 6, 2008 - 11:13PM
Sydney Morning Herald
http://news.smh.com.au/national/lex-wotton-jailed-for-six-years-20081107...

Aboriginal leaders say relations between black and white communities in north Queensland can now begin to mend after Palm Island riot ringleader Lex Wotton received a much lesser prison sentence than expected.

Wotton, 41, was on Friday sentenced to six years jail, with a fixed parole date in July 2010, for his role in the 2004 riot - well short of the 10-year prison term his supporters had expected.
Aboriginal activist Gracelyn Smallwood told a cheering crowd outside the Townsville courthouse the result was a victory.

"We are very grateful and are hoping that black and white can come together and move on with the healing process," she said.

Wotton was found guilty of one count of rioting with destruction following a three-week trial in Brisbane District Court last month, but Judge Michael Shanahan adjourned sentencing to Friday.

The riot on November 26, 2004 - a week after the death in police custody of Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee - resulted in the island's police station and an officers' residence being burnt to the ground.

Judge Shanahan on Friday took aim at Queensland authorities who, he said, had mishandled the events following the death of Mr Doomadgee and contributed to community anger.

He said many Palm Islanders believed Mr Doomadgee's death would not be properly investigated after Detective Sergeant Darren Robinson, a friend of arresting officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, was appointed to lead the probe.

Snr Sgt Hurley was last year acquitted of manslaughter, but admitted to accidentally causing Mr Doomadgee's death by falling on top of him with his knee protruding.

Residents were also not made aware that the Crime and Misconduct Commission and the state coroner would also investigate, Judge Shanahan said.

The riot erupted after the release of a pathologist's report which found Mr Doomadgee, whose liver had been cleaved in two, had died as a result of a fall.

However, Judge Shanahan said the community's understandable anger did not give them the right to riot.

"Whatever the justification, society cannot accept that this (riot) was an appropriate response," Judge Shanahan said.

He said many of the 22 police on the island at the time of the riot - who earlier this week received bravery awards - had feared for their lives and were still affected by it.

Prosecutor Michael Cowen had asked for Wotton to be sentenced to 10 years jail because he was a leader of the riots and was seen pouring petrol onto the police station.

He had also incited the riot by taking the microphone at the town meeting to declare "thing are going to burn" and ordered another island man to set fire to the officers' residence.

Mr Cowen also noted Wotton's criminal history, which included convictions for assaulting women and juveniles.

However, defence barrister Clive Steirn pleaded with Judge Shanahan, describing Mr Wotton as "a decent human being".

He said Wotton dedicated much of his spare time to improving the strife-ridden community and was the primary supporter of his family.

Mr Steirn also read a character reference from Townsville MP and Parliamentary Speaker Mike Reynolds who called the Palm Islander "an agent for change".

Mr Reynolds said the riot had helped draw the government's attention to the troubles facing Palm Island.
"There has probably been more done for Palm Island (since this riot) than there was in the decades previously," Mr Reynolds wrote.

Outside court, Wotton's mother Agnes Wotton said she was pleased her son would be home in 19 months.

"I think Lex is really strong. At least I can go to bed and have a decent sleep and know that ... (he) is very strong. He is one child I don't have to worry about," she said.

SEE ALSO NEWS LTD ARCHIVES
http://search.news.com.au/search?q=palm+island&sid=601&us=ndmtheaustrali...

Qld Cops “Ethical Standards Command” Delays warrants Crime and Misconduct Commission Act Amendment
www.cynicismcentral.org/node/49

Darren Robinson faces discipline over Mulrunji death-in-custody inquiry
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24597935-5006786,00.html
By Peter Michael | November 04, 2008
A TOP detective honoured with the highest police award for his bravery in the 2004 Palm Island riot is on extended leave ahead of the findings of a stalled four-year official misconduct probe.

Det-Sgt Darren Robinson is facing disciplinary action, and possibly criminal charges, over his handling of the initial Mulrunji death-in-custody inquiry under a long-running investigation headed by the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

Det-Sgt Robinson yesterday was one of three senior officers honoured in Townsville with the Queensland Police Valour Award, the top police bravery medal, for "acts of exceptional bravery in hazardous circumstances".

Sen-Sgt Raymond Kitching, a lead investigator in the initial Mulrunji inquiry who is also before the CMC, was recognised with a Commissioner's Award for Meritorious Service.

Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson told The Courier-Mail that the awards did not prejudge the stalled internal police inquiry.

"They are two separate issues," Mr Atkinson said.

Both officers shared beers and dinner with Senior-Sergeant Chris Hurley, who later was acquitted of Mulrunji's manslaughter, and held off-the-record conversations in an initial investigation slammed by the acting coroner as lacking transparency and independence.

Protesters did not disrupt the ceremony at which 34 officers were given awards.

They included 12 officers who were not on the island at the time of the riots but who manned the mainland communication centre and major incident room.

Palm Island's 4000 residents rioted and burnt down the police station and courthouse on November 26, 2004, shortly after the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee.

Inspector Brian Richardson, who also was recognised with the highest police bravery medal, said the 19 officers besieged by the enraged mob still bore the mental scars.

"It's just something that sticks with you. The total breakdown of law and order, it's a terrible thing. It's a very lonely experience when you are trapped on an island and you have nowhere to go."

Sen-Sgt David Dini, a veteran indigenous police officer who was on the island, said it was "our finest hour".

ABC Stateline Qld
Transcript
Watch-House Complaint
Broadcast: 16/10/2008
Reporter: JOHN TAYLOR
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/qld/content/2006/s2393392.htm

JOHN TAYLOR: A lawyer who was taken into custody for failing to follow police instructions, and was stripped of her clothes and charged at the Brisbane watch-house says the situation must never happen again. The charge that saw her taken to the watch house was thrown out of court. But the Magistrate expressed profound shock at the way the woman was treated by police. The Police Service has not taken any action against the officers involved and the Crime and Misconduct Commission has been investigating for about five months.

EMMA MEADTH, COMPLAINANT: I'll never forget the horror I felt when I was on a cold hard concrete floor naked in Brisbane City Watch house. That's not something you forget in a hurry.

ANDREW BALE, SOLICITOR: It was probably not a revenge issue but it was an attempt to shut her up and make her leave them alone.

EMMA MEADTH: I'm a solicitor, who works in Brisbane; I do a lot of family law.

JOHN TAYLOR: Thirty two year old lawyer Emma Meadth knows more of the justice system than she wants. In November last year, she was in the heart of Brisbane drinking with a friend. There was a dispute over seating, the police were called, and Ms Meadth was arrested.

ANDREW BALE: The police charged her with contravening a direction, and the direction that she was issued was that she move on.

JOHN TAYLOR: She was taken to the Brisbane city watch-house. The watch-house internal cameras recorded what happened, and Ms Meadth got a copy through freedom of information. It shows her being forcibly stripped by two officers in a practice called "smocking".

EMMA MEADTH: I absolutely believe it was punishment. Yes. Yes.

JOHN TAYLOR: In May this year in the Brisbane's magistrate court Ms Meadth contested her charge of failing to move on. She won.

ANDREW BALE: Ultimately it was dismissed by the Magistrate effectively on the basis that she could not be satisfied the direction was even given. So that in fact she was arrested for an offence that was not made out because there was no direction.

JOHN TAYLOR: But what happened in the watch-house that night in November troubled Magistrate Linda Bradford-Morgan.

GRAPHIC (MAGISTRATE LINDA BRADFORD-MORGAN) 13th May 2008
I should record my profound shock at the contents of the CD which depicted the stripping, not smocking, the stripping of Ms Meadth who was conveyed to the watch-house. She said.

JOHN TAYLOR: She went on to say that Ms Meadth appeared to have been stripped because she told police she was a lawyer and knew her rights.

GRAPHIC (MAGISTRATE LINDA BRADFORD-MORGAN) 13th May 2008
This appears to have antagonised the watch-house personnel and what followed thereafter should properly be referred to the CMC. It being Queensland's powerful watchdog, the crime and misconduct commission.

JOHN TAYLOR: When Emma Meadth arrived at the Watch-house, she spent nearly an hour in a holding cell, where she repeatedly knocked on the door and pushed the buzzer. She was then taken to the charge counter, where after giving her basic details she refused to answer any other questions.

JOHN TAYLOR: In court defence Barrister Scott Lynch asked Constable Vicki Farley.

GRAPHIC (DEFENCE COUNSEL SCOTT LYNCH)
Do you recall the watch-house sergeant saying something of the like of "oh, you're one of those type, are you?

GRAPHIC (CONSTABLE VICKI FARLEY)
No, I don't recall, she said.

GRAPHIC (DEFENCE COUNSEL SCOTT LYNCH)
And directing that she be strip searched or stripped, not searched, just stripped?

GRAPHIC: (CONSTABLE VICKI FARLEY)
I don't think I was present. I don't recall any of that. She said.

JOHN TAYLOR: Were you being obstructive?

EMMA MEADTH: No I don't think so. I don't think so. I didn't do anything that I wouldn't advise a client to do in the same situation. And I thought that I had complied with all of my obligations as far as being arrested and being processed through the system.

JOHN TAYLOR: But minutes later she was restrained, and frogmarched to a padded cell where she was then stripped. According to court transcripts one of the officers involved, Constable Vicki Farley, told the Magistrates Court.

GRAPHIC (CONSTABLE VICKI FARLEY)
During, during the charging, a number of mental and physical health questions were asked of all defendants. The defendant refused to answer. As a result she was - its policy to place a defendant in a smock for if they refuse to answer, for their own safety. She said.

JOHN TAYLOR: But the court heard that "smocking" isn't in the police operations manual, and it was unknown who gave the order for it to be force upon Ms Meadth.

GRAPHIC (DEFENCE COUNSEL SCOTT LYNCH)
Defence Barrister Scott Lynch asked Constable Vicki Farley, who was in the cell when it happened. Where does this policy come about? Where did you read that? She replied I haven't read it anywhere.

ANDREW BALE, SOLICITOR: I've never heard of it before, I've never heard of it in general conversation, I've never heard of it as a policy, I'm never seen it anywhere in writing.

JOHN TAYLOR: Andrew Bale has been a Brisbane criminal lawyer for more than a decade, and represented Emma Meadth.

ANDREW BALE, SOLICITOR: The Queensland Police publish well an operational procedures manual. Now this policy of smocking certainly is not in the operational procedures manual so one wonders where it comes from, from a starting point. But that would be the appropriate place for something like that to be.

JOHN TAYLOR: If Ms Meadth was stripped for mental health reasons, those same reasons weren't enough for police to call for a doctor.

GRAPHIC (MAGISTRATE BRADFORD-MORGAN) 13th May 2008-10-17
Constable Farley asserted that Ms Meadth was stripped for her own safety but conceded that no-one had called a doctor arising out of any concerns for the wellbeing of the defendant she said and that some unknown police officer had directed that Ms Meadth be stripped.

ANDREW BALE, SOLICITOR: Look in this instance, no, Ms Meadth was in fact asking for a number of things, and she wasn't given any of them, but most importantly year she was asking for a medical practitioner to be called.

JOHN TAYLOR: Her requests for a solicitor were also ignored. After about an hour and 45 minutes in the smock, Ms Meadth was allowed to change back into her clothes as the process of releasing her began. What changed from the time that you were in the smock to the time that you were able to go back into your own clothes?

EMMA MEADTH: All I can figure is that they perhaps think they taught me the lesson that they wanted to teach me and they could get on with the processing. I've got no idea.

JOHN TAYLOR: Before her court victory, Ms Meadth wrote a letter to the Queensland Police Service complaining about her treatment.

EMMA MEADTH: I was interviewed via telephone for about 20 minutes from an officer whom I believe came from the same watch-house where this happened. And then got a letter not long afterwards saying they did not find my complaint to be justified.

GRAPHIC (P.J. BARRON ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER) 16th April 2008
There is significant video and documentary evidence which contradicts your allegations and indicates that you were obstructive and unco-operative towards police.

JOHN TAYLOR: But in court less than a month later, Magistrate Bradley-Morgan found.

GRAPHIC (MAGISTRATE LINDA BRADFORD-MORGAN) 13th May 2008
There was no contention that she behaved in an aggressive fashion, other than to state that she was a lawyer.

JOHN TAYLOR: After her court victory Ms Meadth went to the police watchdog the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

JOHN TAYLOR: It's been five months. What's happened?

EMMA MEADTH: Very little.

ANDREW BALE: What we know as lawyers is that evidence needs to be preserved and any investigation would need to look at evidence that may well have been destroyed by now.

JOHN TAYLOR: The CMC declined to be interviewed. So did the Queensland Police Service, because the CMC is investigating. It did release a statement saying that people may have their clothes and possessions taken from them and be provided a smock, if there was a concern they might injure themselves or others.

EMMA MEADTH: This is where I'm brought into the padded cell.

JOHN TAYLOR: Emma Meadth believes her case has raised many issues including the need for the policy of "smocking" to be seriously looked at. And while she continues to fight against what happened that night the memories are strong.

JOHN TAYLOR: How does it feel to see this?

EMMA MEADTH: It's horrifying. And I wonder how many times it's happened since this happened to me. It was the most frightened I've ever been in my whole life. There's just not much more I can say.

http://www.perth.indymedia.org/?action=newswire&parentview=133442