Inquiry needed to restore public faith
Claims that criminals may have escaped conviction after botched DNA testing have the potential to shake the foundation of Queensland’s judicial system. They must be investigated as a matter of urgency, writes Peter Gleeson.
Peter Gleeson
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Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman will soon meet with justice advocates after explosive revelations that criminals may have escaped conviction after botched DNA testing at Queensland’s forensic science centre over the past decade.
The bombshell claims – made by one of the country’s top forensic scientists – means hundreds of prosecutions, especially on sexual assaults, may have been tainted.
The Crime and Corruption Commission is investigating the claims, and justice advocates have asked Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman to call an inquiry to uncover the truth.
Ms Fentiman has agreed to talk with the Griffith University Innocence Project, which is spearheading the probe.
The State Opposition says an inquiry must be held to allay fears that police have been hamstrung by flawed DNA results.
The Innocence Project says testing methods were improperly introduced at the former John Tonge science laboratory – now known as the Queensland Health and Forensic Science centre’s DNA unit – in 2012.
The improper testing methods had led to “other systemic errors leading to flawed results which, in turn, have been concealed from the police, leading to courts being misled and ultimately resulting in substantial breaches of public trust dating back over a decade’’.
Equally worrying, argues the Innocence Project, is “that these systemic issues are affecting the reliability of DNA evidence – with undoubtedly dire consequences for the administration of justice in this state’’.
The Innocence Project wants a public inquiry that “will either reveal serious issues which need urgent correction or will allay any disquiet about the laboratory’s competency and conduct’’.
“We are hard-pressed to think of a matter that could have any greater significance in this state at the present time – and given what is happening in the world at this time, we don’t say this lightly,’’ says the Innocence Project’s executive leadership.
It says if urgent correction is required, “it will be inevitable that a considerable number of cases will be enlivened and, to that end, a second appeal option would be desirable of legislative reform rather than the traditional pardon route, much like the reforms in Victoria following the ‘Lawyer X’ issue.”
The revelations centre on testimony provided by Dr Kirsty Wright, one of Australia’s leading forensic scientists and a member of the Innocence Project’s Advisory Board.
Dr Wright has vast experience as a major crimes scientist and expert witness for criminal prosecutions and has led DNA teams in a number of successful local and international forensic operations.
Since November last year, Dr Wright has publicly raised fears about the functioning of the Queensland Health and Forensic Science Service’s DNA unit. It came after her review of the Blackburn case.
As part of this review, Dr Wright had access to all the documents from the 2019 Coronial inquest, including official documents from QHFSS. Her findings led her to subsequently make a complaint to the Crime Corruption Commission alleging serious misconduct by employees of QHFSS.
Dr Wright met with the CCC on March 25 and has since met with members of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, led by former Supreme Court judge Margaret McMurdo, to discuss the laboratory’s systemic failings and conduct.
The Griffith University Innocence Project has written to Ms Fentiman alerting her to the possibility of miscarriages of justice.
“The purpose of this letter is to raise our grave concerns about the operation of the Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services DNA Analysis Unit,’’ the letter said.
“We understand Dr Wright met with the CCC on March 25, 2022, and has since met with members of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce to discuss the laboratory’s systemic failings and conduct.
“Our project has no connection to the Shandee Blackburn case. We are, however, alarmed by the substance of Dr Wright’s complaints and the likelihood that practices which have been, and continue to be carried out by QHFSS, have resulted in miscarriages of justice leading to wrongful convictions and wrongful acquittals.
“In our view, someone of Dr Wright’s stature in the forensic science community making such allegations surely demands an urgent public inquiry into the operations of QHFSS. QHFSS plays a vital role in the administration of criminal justice in Queensland. Questions over its operations undermine the integrity of our entire justice system – and to think there is a risk this has been going on for over ten years.’’
The real issue for Ms Fentiman is the possibility of a miscarriage of justice for scores or hundreds of sexual assault victims.
These claims have the potential to shake the foundation of Queensland’s judicial system. They must be investigated as a matter of urgency.