Silk-Miller police murders: Convicted killer Jason Roberts taking Attorney-General to court
CONVICTED double police killer Jason Roberts is taking Victoria’s Attorney-General to court, demanding classified documents.
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CONVICTED double police killer Jason Roberts is taking Victoria’s Attorney-General to court, demanding that he hand over the classified documents that were used to seal his fate.
Roberts listened in by phone on Thursday to a brief hearing at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the first step in what is likely to be a protracted Freedom of Information battle for the papers.
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The hearings could result in Attorney-General Martin Pakula being subpoenaed to give evidence as to what swayed him to deny a petition for mercy from Roberts.
Roberts wants to attend the main hearing next year.
Earlier this year, Mr Pakula denied Roberts’s attempt to have his case referred to the Supreme Court in an effort to challenge his conviction for the August 1998 murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller.
In July, the Herald Sun exposed a backflip by Mr Pakula over the case.
The Department of Justice and an independent legal adviser, David Grace, QC, initially recommended referring the case back to court.
It is understood a planned announcement was suddenly delayed after a significant backlash to such a move became evident from phone calls Mr Pakula made in January.
A submission was then requested from Victoria Police, after which Roberts’ appeal bid was rejected.
In a letter to MPs, Mr Pakula has dismissed any suggestion that his decision was politically motivated.
Mr Pakula has released some material in response to a motion in the Legislative Council seeking that all relevant material be tabled.
But the government has refused to release more than 40 documents, including the Victoria Police submission.
Roberts’ petition had followed a year-long police investigation of his claims he had been with his then girlfriend, and not at the crime scene, on the night of the police murders.
Roberts was jailed for life, with a minimum of 35 years, but faces the prospect of being denied parole under new laws effectively banning the release of anyone convicted of murdering a police officer.