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Lex Wotton, pictured outside Brisbane District Court yesterday with one of his granddaughters, Tiawina. |
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LEX WOTTON TRIAL: Evidence phase completed; defence and prosecution prepare for summing up
ISSUE 164 - 16 Oct 2008
By Chris Graham
IN BRISBANE
NATIONAL, October 22, 2008: The evidence phase of the trial of accused Palm Island rioter Lex Wotton has concluded, with closing arguments by the defence and prosecution, and then a summing up by the judge scheduled for this morning.
The jury may retire to consider its verdict as early as this afternoon, but more likely tomorrow morning.
Mr Wotton has been appearing in the Brisbane District Court, before Judge Michael Shanahan for the past two and a half weeks. He is facing life in prison on a charge of rioting with destruction.
The November 26, 2004 Palm Island uprising saw the local police station, courthouse, and a residence in the police barracks burnt to the ground. It followed the death in custody a week earlier of Mulrunji Doomadgee, an Aboriginal man who had never been in trouble on the island before.
Mulrunji was walking home on the morning of November 19 when he was arrested by the highest ranking officer on the island, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. Mulrunji was lying dead in a police cell within the hour.
In a subsequent report into the death, Acting State Coroner Christine Clements described the arrest of Mulrunji as “completely unjustified”. She noted his injuries were so severe (his liver had almost been “cleaved in two) that if medical staff had been immediately available when Snr Sgt Hurley assaulted him, Mulrunji would still have died.
A total of 17 witnesses have given evidence in the trial, 10 of them police. One of those, Detective Sergeant Darren Robinson endured three days of cross examination by defence counsel for Mr Wotton, Clive Steirn SC.
At one stage, Det Sgt Robinson admitted on the stand he had lied in a police investigation he'd conducted which exonerated his friend and colleague Snr Sgt Hurley. The probe was into allegations Snr Sgt Hurley ran over an Aboriginal woman in a police vehicle in June 2004, five months before the death in custody.
Det Sgt Robinson had dismissed the complaint as fictitious, despite having not spoken to the two independent witnesses who saw the incident, and without including medical evidence. Had he done so, it would have shown the woman, Beverley Pilot, had been transferred from Palm Island to the mainland due to the severity of her injuries (a bone in her leg was sticking through her skin).
Other police were quizzed about their actions on the day of the riot. Police testified that they feared for their lives during the uprising.
Mr Steirn regularly accused police witnesses of colluding with each other to ensure their statements matched. All police officers denied the claim. Several officers were directly challenged about speaking to a senior police officer who had been sitting through proceedings prior to giving their evidence. All denied that as well.
At one stage it emerged that a key police witness - Terrence Kidner - was accompanied to court by two “minders” from the police. It was not explained in court why Mr Kidner was in the company of police - the jury was told he had been released from custody after serving 10 months for the torching of Snr Sgt Hurley's home.
Mr Kidner testified that during the riot, Mr Wotton handed him a drum of fuel and ordered him to set fire to Snr Sgt Hurley's residence. In rebuttal, the court heard that Mr Kidner received a lighter prison sentence because the trial judge accepted that he was acting under the instruction of Mr Wotton.
Another Aboriginal witness, Lindsay Malone testified that she saw Mr Wotton dousing the police station in petrol. She also claimed Mr Wotton was throwing rocks at police and that when firefighters arrived to extinguish the blazes, Mr Wotton had laughed and told Ms Malone that he had turned the town water off.
In cross examination, it was revealed Ms Malone and her uncle lost employment as a result of Mr Wotton blowing the whistle on corruption at an Aboriginal organisation on Palm Island.
Video footage has been one feature of the trial - freelance cameraman Stephen Hume, the first witness to give evidence - was on Palm when the riot erupted. He stopped filming early in the uprising, telling the court he feared for his safety. But much of what he did capture has made for compelling viewing.
A video captured by Sgt Craig Robertson was among the most dramatic footage played to the court. It showed the police perspective on the riot, in particular after police had abandoned the station and fled to the nearby barracks.
The footage played to the jury shows a large crowd outside the fence of the police compound.
Officers are ducking a volley of rocks and when the sound kicks briefly in on the video, police can be heard screaming warnings to their colleagues to take shelter behind a building: “Watch your back now. Watch out. Heads up. Back in, back in, back in.”
One officer - Snr Sgt Roger Whyte, is show walking out to the crowd with his hands to his side. He's pleading for them to stop throwing rocks, but is forced back deeper into the compound after a volley of missiles.
He tries again, and is able to speak to Mr Wotton, who is standing against the gate. Snr Sgt Whyte (now Acting Supt Whyte) told the court Mr Wotton directed the crowd to stop throwing rocks. But he also testified that Mr Wotton warned the police unless they left the island within an hour, they would all be killed.
One other central theme of the trial will be the conduct of Mr Wotton. Most police who testified have alleged that Mr Wotton was very aggressive towards officers during the riot, with profanity and threats directed towards police. But the most senior officer on the island at the time of the uprising, Inspector Brian Richardson agreed that at no time did he hear Mr Wotton swear.
• NIT will bring you an update after the lunch adjournment today.
WITNESS LIST
Stephen Hume (only video cameraman on island at time of uprising)
Hal Walsh (Aboriginal - law student)
Tiana Friday (Aboriginal - mother)
Det Sgt Darren Robinson (police officer)
Terrence Kidner (Aboriginal - convicted of torching Hurley house)
Joelene O'Neill (Aboriginal - community teacher)
Virginia Coutts (Indigenous - student teacher)
Sgt Craig Robertson (police officer)
Det Sgt Andrew Smith (police officer)
Insp Brian Richardson (police officer - most senior on island at time of uprising)
Lindsay Malone (Aboriginal - project worker Queensland Education)
Acting Supt Roger Whyte (police officer)
Sgt Peter Thomas (police officer)
Snr Sgt Darren Randall (police officer)
Snr Sgt David Dini (police officer - cultural liaison officer)
Snr Const Peter Betts (police officer)
Const Bert Tabuai (Torres Strait Islander - police officer)
 
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