The Snitch: Roger Rogerson launches appeal against murder sentence
Former homicide detective Roger ‘The Dodger’ Rogerson has launched an appeal against his life in prison sentence for the murder of student Jamie Gao. He claims there is “fresh evidence” which could clear him of the charge.
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Bombshell alert: disgraced cop Roger Rogerson reckons he’s unearthed “fresh evidence” that will clear him of murder.
Rogerson’s appeal against his life sentence for murdering student Jamie Gao was in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday, where his lawyers Peter Katsoolis and John Stratton gave the court a tantalising preview of what’s to come.
Rogerson’s appeal is set for a four-day hearing from September 22.
The ex-cop’s legal team didn’t reveal any of the details, only telling the court that the appeal would be based on fresh evidence that did not feature in his trial.
In 2016, Roger “The Dodger” was jailed for what would effectively be a life sentence, given his age, after a jury found him guilty of murdering Gao.
The student was shot during a drug deal gone wrong at a Padstow storage shed in 2014.
His body was found days later floating in the waters off Cronulla. Rogerson’s fellow ex-cop, Glen McNamara, was a party to the deal and was also jailed over Gao’s murder.
BILLING CHECK
Have you ever felt you’ve been overcharged by your lawyer?
Well, a recent tribunal hearing has put the issue of client billing squarely under the microscope.
Sydney barrister Dymphna Hawkins was recently ordered to refund $22,500 to one of her clients. This came after the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld a decision by the NSW Bar Association to penalise Ms Hawkins for her billing practices relating to one client.
According to an NCAT judgment published this week, Ms Hawkins ran into trouble when representing a Queensland man in jail over a drug-related murder.
The tribunal found Ms Hawkins engaged in “unsatisfactory professional conduct” by threatening to cancel a jail visit to the man unless his family paid her $5000 in fees.
It also found some of the work and expenses that Ms Hawkins charged back to her client were unnecessary.
Members of the tribunal believed her trip to Queensland could have “comfortably been achieved” with only one night’s accommodation, rather than the two it took Ms Hawkins, which included a stay at the Mantra on the Gold Coast.
However, the tribunal did not uphold a complaint that Ms Hawkins’ rental of a Mercedes C200 was excessive.
COP VS COP
Few things in the world are guaranteed except for that when cops go after cops in court, it’s no holds barred.
We saw a good example this week when a failed prosecution of former NSW Police chief inspector Joel Murchie came to an expensive end for the taxpayers.
Murchie was found not guilty of four charges of indecent assault relating to a female officer and another female ambulance officer.
In Central Local Court on Wednesday, after assessing the merits of the case that was levelled at Murchie, Magistrate Margaret Quinn added to the police force’s woes and ordered they pick up the cost for his lawyers too.
Snitch understands this was in the vicinity of $60,000.
Murchie, 49, was charged in 2018 with two counts of common assault and one count of assault with an act of indecency after he was alleged to have kissed a female colleague. The woman also claimed he kicked and flicked her on the bottom on a separate occasion between 2015 and 2017.
Magistrate Quinn threw out the charges after finding the “kicks and flicks” between the woman and Mr Murchie were consensual — and in one case initiated by the woman — in the context of a “jovial” office culture. Another charge where Mr Murchie was alleged to have indecently assaulted a female NSW Ambulance worker was dismissed after Ms Quinn found it could not have happened in the way the woman described in evidence.
So how did this hang around the court system for about two years at a cost of about six figures?
Mr Murchie’s lawyer Paul McGirr said: “Cops go hard on their own and try to land a conviction at all costs.”
It could get even more expensive. Mr McGirr said his client was now planning to lodge a wrongful arrest case against the state in the NSW Supreme Court after his client
was held in custody for more than four hours.
GREENS SHOCK
Residents of a suburban hamlet in Sydney’s south were shocked to learn last week that the creator of their community Facebook group was facing child abuse charges.
A collective shudder swept through the Maton Place page when it emerged Jonathan Doig — a former Greens federal election candidate — was charged with three child abuse offences, including procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia.
Doig allegedly paid a known child abuse facilitator to watch a
13-year-old schoolgirl abused over a live stream from the Philippines.
Snitch hears Doig (inset left) was a very active member of his local Facebook page, often offering to help his neighbours out, do their grocery shopping and encourage social get-togethers.
Community members shared photos of their homes and families, some of which were promptly removed once news broke of Doig’s arrest.
GOT A SNITCH? Contact ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or Brenden.hills@news.com.au