‘Mountain of evidence’ to sort in Matt Wright’s Outback Wrangler chopper crash case
Matt Wright is fighting to find out if prosecution witnesses have been granted immunity to testify against him over his alleged role in a chopper crash that killed his Netflix co-star.
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright is fighting to obtain all of the evidence against him in criminal proceedings over his alleged actions following a fatal chopper crash and find out if any prosecution witnesses have been granted immunity to testify against him.
Lawyer Giles O’Brien-Hartcher tendered a 17-page disclosure schedule in the Darwin Local Court this week, listing the evidence the defence claimed was yet to be provided to them ahead of the celebrity croc-wrangler’s committal.
One item on the long list was “any concession which has been granted to a witness in order to secure that person’s testimony for the prosecution, including the details of any grant of immunity or indemnity from prosecution and discount on sentence if applicable”.
“These are things that will be disclosed to us and must be disclosed to us,” Mr O’Brien-Hartcher told the court.
The 43-year-old’s lawyers are also seeking the contents of pilot Sebastian Robinson’s mobile phone.
Last year, police charged Wright with seven serious offences related to his actions before and after the fatal chopper crash that killed his reality television co-star Chris Wilson during a crocodile egg collection mission at West Arnhem Land.
The charges include attempting to pervert the course of justice, destroying evidence, fabricating evidence, unlawfully entering a building, unlawfully entering a dwelling, making a false declaration and interfering with witnesses in a criminal investigation or court process by making threats/reprisals.
At a case management inquiry on Tuesday, prosecutor Steve Ledek said the crown was still receiving evidence from police that would all form part of Wright‘s “voluminous” brief.
“For the Wright allegations, there is a considerable amount of material that will be over 26 to 28 volumes by its completion,” he said.
“There’s a large tranche of material that relates to Mr Robinson’s phone, some 150,000 texts, which need some assessment in terms of disclosure because it’s not all relevant to this proceeding.”
Local Court judge Tanya Fong Lim asked Mr Ledek if there had been a forensic analysis of Mr Robinson’s phone.
“Yes and other intercepts and other sources from surveillance devices,” Mr Ledek said.
“It has to be disclosed, it has been disclosed, it’s just the volume.”
Mr Robinson, who was flying Wright’s helicopter when it crashed on February 28, 2022, is still recovering from severe spinal injuries.
Former senior police officer Neil Mellon and pilot Michael Burbidge – who was on the egg collecting mission and discovered the downed chopper – have also been charged with offences related to the crash investigation.
All three defendants will face a two-day preliminary examination on the papers, which is a committal hearing with no witnesses called, on December 7-8.
“The reason we’ve asked for two days is because there’s an enormous amount of evidence, and there’s still more coming,” Mr O’Brien-Hartcher said.
Mr Mellon’s lawyer, Sally Ozolins, said her client was still seeking disclosure of material including “better particulars”.
Mr Burbidge’s lawyer, Clancy Dane, said he was waiting to see what material was contained in Wright’s brief of evidence before deciding whether any of it was relevant to his client’s charges due to the “differences and similarities in the cases against them”.
A further CMI was set down for September 18.
