Jessica Blinda Polsoni Hanbury delays murder committal with bizarre claims
A Queensland mum charged with letting her daughter die, pictured right, made bizarre claims the Queensland Police Service is “not a legal entity” as she revealed she was taking advice from another woman who is not a lawyer.
Police & Courts
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A woman who accused a magistrate of “abuse of power” and declared the Queensland Police Service “not a legal entity” among other bizarre claims heard the names of 100 witnesses in her murder case read in court.
Jessica Blinda Hanbury nee Polsoni and her husband Adam Joseph Hanbury are charged with murdering their two-year-old daughter Diana by neglecting to hospitalise her until she was presented to Mackay Base Hospital on December 29, 2022, unmoving.
She returned to Mackay Magistrates Court on Thursday for her committal to the Supreme Court prepared with a bevy of odd assertions that were largely dismissed or summarily corrected by Magistrate Damien Dwyer.
Ms Polsoni initially attempted to make an application stating Mr Dwyer had the jurisdiction to dismiss the case and requested he do so, which was almost immediately refused as she had “misunderstood” the process and he did not have the authority.
She went on to claim an order of the Queensland Supreme Court “informed” her he did, that her bench charge sheet was illegitimate, the warrants “faulty”, the court process “fraudulent”, and that the QPS was “not a legal entity and cannot be represented”.
Her back and forth with the magistrate was stymied, however, when she seemingly accidentally mentioned “Heidi” had marked a document and Mr Dwyer asked who she was, to which she answered; “You know who Heidi is”.
Heidi Ward has previously supported Ms Polsoni in Mackay court and is not a legal professional, so Mr Dwyer asked Ms Polsoni if Ms Ward was her legal adviser.
“Heidi is a friend who helps me to understand the law-,” Ms Polsoni answered, before being interrupted.
“Just one moment, she’s a friend who helps you understand the law? What does that mean?” Mr Dwyer asked.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s not important to you,” she answered.
“You raised it. Is she giving you legal advice, is she?”
“I can get legal advice from whoever I want-”
“You can, but I asked are you getting legal advice from Ms Ward?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Ms Ward was not in court but Ms Polsoni was joined by at least eight supporters who sat at the back of the court, with her glancing back at them from the bar table.
The court heard an application had been made in the Queensland Supreme Court by Ms Ward, but the exact connection to Ms Polsoni’s case was not made clear.
Ms Polsoni continued to request Mr Dwyer strike out the charge sheet despite his earlier dismissal, with him repeating that she was “wrong in law” and that the committal would continue.
“I don’t want to hear you anymore … I’ve already rejected it three times, it is not an invalid document at all,” Mr Dwyer said.
Police prosecutor Sheena Gravino told the court that Ms Polsoni’s co-accused husband, who was bailed to South Australia, had also had his matters delayed so that they would match up.
Ms Gravino read into the record more than a hundred names of people who had given statements to a “protracted investigation” into Polsoni.
Several were from doctors at Mackay Base Hospital and four statements were from people with the last name Polsoni.
The court heard there were more than 40 exhibits tendered in a bundle and when asked if she had any comment on the evidence, Ms Polsoni claimed all of the evidence was invalid “because none of it has been stamped by a JP (Justice of the Peace)” and again attempted to request a strikeout order.
“I reject it. I’ve rejected it. With the greatest of respect, defendant, I run this court, not you,” Mr Dwyer said.
“I’m not a rubber stamp. You don’t just come in and ask for something and get it, you have to have a reason.”
“The reason why there should be a strikeout (is that) it has all the requirements . including the fifth one which is actually your abuse of power in this court,” Ms Polsoni retorted.
“Good sir, you actually have done the wrong thing.”
Mr Dwyer said if Ms Polsoni wanted to make any verbal submissions about why she shouldn’t be committed she could have a week to get them together “if that’s what you want to do”.
Ms Polsoni’s committal was adjourned to next Wednesday, September 11 for submissions on the committal documents and case evidence.
Her bail was enlarged until then.
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