Dr Bob Moles - Miscarriages of Justice - South Australia, interstate and overseas. The speaker is an internationally acclaimed expert on these issues. He has appeared on many television and radio programs and published leading textbooks and academic articles on these issues. He is regularly involved as an advisor on many of Australia's leading wrongful conviction cases. In this lecture, Dr Moles will discuss many well-known South Australian criminal cases including that of Henry Keogh and Derek Bromley. His work has led to the creation of new appeal rights in five Australian jurisdictions - the first significant change to the appeal rights in Australia in over 100 years. He has provided submissions to the law reform agencies in Canada and the UK and discussed their cases in his books. This lecture is one not to be missed. A link to many of the general issues together with books and articles can be found at the Networked Knowledge Homepage: http//netk.net.au
Miscarriages of Justice in South Australia
Course Description
For reasons not yet explained, South Australia in the late 1960s employed a person as chief forensic pathologist who was not qualified to do autopsies or to give evidence in court as an expert witness.
Despite informing the Supreme Court of these facts in the mid-1970s, forensic services continued to employ him in that capacity for the next 20 years. They enabled him to conduct 10,000 autopsies and to help secure over 400 wrongful convictions.
Dr Robert Moles revealed those facts in a national television program in 2001. Since then, he has conducted over 100 media discussions of these issues, written several books for the public and legal practitioners and made numerous applications to the courts.
Astonishingly, the courts have never permitted the disturbing facts concerning these issues to be admitted in any of those legal proceedings.
You will be shocked to learn of the extent of the incompetent, dishonest and flawed evidence used by the state to secure wrongful convictions and to cover-up serious crimes.
Despite wrongful convictions being a hot topic in the USA, Canada, the UK and New Zealand, none of them have anything to compare with the experience we have endured here in South Australia.
Course Structure
Dr Moles will provide an engaging lecture-style journey through some of the shocking evidence in some of South Australia's most high-profile cases, including:
- Frits Van Beelen – convicted of the murder of a young girl
- David Szach – the body in the freezer case
- Mrs Emily Perry – attempted poisoning of her husband
- Terry Akritidis – murder or suicide?
- The three tiny baby deaths – natural causes or murder?
- Henry Keogh and Derek Bromley – both convicted of murder in shocking drowning cases. Keogh's conviction was overturned, and Bromley’s appeal was refused – but the mistakes and misleading evidence in both cases was very similar. South Australia's leading homicide expert apparently did not know how to diagnose a death by drowning?
- Dr Moles will take you through Dr Manock's disturbing history – he gave false evidence about his qualifications and 'made up' evidence to help the prosecution in many of his cases. The findings by some of Australia's most eminent judges and leading international experts about his failures will shock you. We will use video clips from some of our broadcast programs to make the point.
- Dr Moles will show how we discovered that the criminal appeal system throughout Australia was in breach of our international human rights obligations. How rights to new appeals were established in most of Australia's jurisdictions – yet the judges again interpreted the new appeal rights to effectively block access to the courts.
- We have often said that this is a scandal which will not go away. We think you should learn more about it – from Dr Moles and the scores of high-profile lawyers and international experts who have supported this work.
Course Learning Outcomes
Students attending this course will:
- Understand the workings of criminal law, including trial and appeal procedures
- Learn the roles and responsibilities of prosecutors, defence lawyers, expert witnesses, and judges
- Examine the systems of checks and balances designed to ensure fair trials and effective appeals
- Compare Australian legal procedures with those of other similar countries
- Explore the relationship between human rights and the rule of law in Australia
- Identify potential reforms to better support those who have been wrongly convicted, including changes to appeal laws, compensation measures, and the creation of a Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Your Tutor is Dr Robert Moles
Dr Bob Moles has been teaching at WEA since 2019.
Bob is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Flinders University. He has previously taught at Australian National University and Queen's University Belfast, is the author of six books and is a leading Australian researcher in the area of miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions.
He helped to overturn the conviction of Henry Keogh after he had served 20 years for a crime which never occurred, and is currently working on the case of Derek Bromley who has served 40 years. His work has helped change the law on criminal appeals around Australia - the first such change in over 100 years.
Bob and his team have also contributed to more than 170 television and radio programs and podcasts.
This course is available as a WEA Flexi course.
When you enrol in a WEA Flexi course, you have the option of attending each session in person or online via Zoom. You do not need to nominate a preference when you enrol, you can simply attend each session in person or online as it suits you.
Zoom is a popular video conferencing software solution which can be used as a virtual classroom. For an optimal online learning experience, when attending classes via Zoom we recommend you install Zoom Workplace on a desktop or laptop computer with built-in webcam and use a headset with microphone. Alternatively, there is a Zoom Workplace app available so you can participate using a tablet or smartphone, however you may not be able to experience all aspects of the online learning environment when participating this way.
When you enrol in a WEA Flexi course, you will receive an email with a Zoom meeting link at least two days before the course starts. If you don’t see the email in your inbox, please check your spam folder or junk mail. If you have not received the email with the Zoom meeting details, please contact us and we will provide the details you need to join the session online.
To join the course session via Zoom, simply click on the Join the Meeting link in the email or click on Join Meeting in the Zoom app and insert the Meeting ID, your name and Passcode in the boxes provided.
Please note: WEA can only provide limited technical support (such as re-sending the meeting details), as students should know how to use Zoom on their computer or device if choosing to attend this way.
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