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Lex Wotton (suit) talks to supporters outside the Brisbane District Court yesterday afternoon. Mr Wotton is facing one count of riot with destruction. |
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LEX WOTTON TRIAL: Court watches videos of rallying cries from Palm Islanders
ISSUE 164 - 16 Oct 2008
By Chris Graham
IN BRISBANE
NATIONAL, October 8, 2008: The trial of Lex Wotton, the alleged ringleader of the 2004 Palm Island riots, has begun in Brisbane with jurors played video footage of a community grieving the loss of one of its own.
The trial proper began yesterday, after a day of legal argument and jury selection on Monday.
Mr Wotton is facing a single count of riot with destruction. He formally pled not guilty.
Around 60 supporters of Mr Wotton's gathered outside the Brisbane District Court in the city. The protests continued yesterday, with groups shouting 'Jail Hurley, Not Wotton'.
The cry is a reference to police Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. He was deemed responsible by Acting State Coroner Christine Clements for the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island on November 19, 2004. Hurley was subsequently acquitted of manslaughter charges in a Brisbane court.
Mulrunji had been walking home around 10 am, when he encountered Snr Sgt Hurley arresting a young Aboriginal man for public nuisance. Mulrunji swore at police, was told to move and did so, but Hurley followed Mulrunji and arrested him regardless.
Within an hour, Mulrunji was dead on the floor of the watchhouse, having died from massive internal injuries.
Mulrunji's death sparked the island rising on November 26. The local police station, court house and police barracks were destroyed by fire after around 300 residents drove police from the island.
The explosion followed a finding by pathologists that Mulrunji had died after tripping up a step in the police station and landing on a flat surface. Somehow, in that process, he sustained four fractured ribs, and his liver was cleaved in two.
Coroner Clements later found that Snr Sgt Hurley had assaulted Mulrunji, and that the police investigation which followed was deficient and on occasions “wilfully blind”.
Only one witness has given evidence in the Wotton trial so far. The court yesterday heard from Stephen Hume, a freelance cameraman who captured footage in the days after the death in custody, and leading up to the riot.
Mr Hume filmed several public meetings on Palm Island at which numerous Aboriginal leaders stood and spoke about the death in custody. All the speakers urged residents to respond to the death, but there were repeated calls for protestors to avoid violence.
Beverley Robinson, a young leader on the island addressed the crowd, telling them she had questioned police as to why they were increasing their numbers on the island immediately after the death in custody.
Ms Robinson told the crowd the police had feared there would be a riot.
“No, we're not going to resort to violence like they (the police) did. We're going to verbally abuse (the police).
“If we don't come together now as a community, we got no chance dealing with government or police.”
Mr Hume also captured gut-wrenching footage of an emotional Roy Bramwell addressing the crowd.
Mr Bramwell was present in the Palm Island police station when the fatal injuries were inflicted on Mulrunji. As he broke down, he told the crowd what he saw, stating that Snr Sgt Hurley had repeatedly punched Mulrunji while he was lying on the floor, and stated 'Do you want more Mr Doomadgee, do you want more?'
“If I'd have stood up and said something they'd have took me in the cell and done the same thing to me,” Mr Bramwell said.
Local Mayor Erykah Kyle was also filmed speaking on several occasions. She made an impassioned plea to local residents, particularly children.
“How many more Aboriginal people have to die in custody? This is the first time that we've lost one of our own in a death in custody. It's a turning point for us.
“[Mulrunji] never made trouble… it's the first time… it must be the last.
“We must move as one people. Think, young people. This is your island too. How are you going to change it? How are you going to build it?”
David Bulsey, a well known local resident, was also filmed addressing the crowd. His speech was just passionate as those before him.
“We don't want trouble on this island, we want bloody justice,” Mr Bulsey said.
“If we don't stand up it's going to happen again and again and again. It could happen to one of your children.
“This is cold blooded murder.”
There was footage captured of Lex Wotton addressing the crowd in the background while a journalist spoke to the camera. You could not make out what Mr Wotton was saying. Footage was also played to the court of a clearly enraged Mr Wotton striding towards the police station carrying a shovel.
The trial continues today, and is set down for three weeks.
 
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