WARRIENA Wright’s death should have been the subject of a coronial inquest, not a nine-day trial in Queensland’s highest court, says a leading criminologist.
Terry Goldsworthy said the Crown got it wrong pursuing a murder charge against Gable Tostee.
Mr Tostee was yesterday found not guilty of murder and manslaughter.
“I don’t think the police should have rushed in with the murder charge,” Dr Goldsworthy said.
“They should have put it to a coroner to find out exactly what was going on, because I just don’t see how the facts of what happened ever matched that charge.”
Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Damien Hansen yesterday revealed Ms Wright’s death would now be referred to the State Coroner after Tostee’s acquittal in the Supreme Court in Brisbane.
Gold Coast criminal lawyer Michael Gatenby said a coronial inquest “at first instance” would have allowed more evidence to be gathered.
“Because her death was so tragic, I think the Crown pressed on with the murder,” he said.
Other prominent criminal lawyers said Mr Tostee should never have been charged.
“I don’t know why police took that path at the time,” one said.
Moloney MacCallum Lawyers principal Andrew Moloney said the fact Mr Tostee was given bail while awaiting trial indicated early difficulties with the Crown case.
“It is very rare in Queensland for someone to be charged with murder and granted bail prior to trial,” he said.
“The decision to grant bail probably indicated that the Crown, at that early stage, didn’t have the strongest case for murder.”
Griffith University law professor Ross Martin QC said the fact a conviction may not be returned should not bar a matter going to trial.
“The proposition that jury might acquit doesn’t mean it should not have been brought in the first place,” Prof Martin said.
“The test the prosecution applies is whether there is (on its face) a case and the magistrate and trial judge in this matter concluded there was.
“The second part of the test is whether there are reasonable prospects of conviction and nobody has a crystal ball to know what a jury will do.”
A spokesman for the Office of the Direction of Public Prosecutions declined to comment on the case.
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