Anxious wait for outcome in Sue Neill-Fraser appeal as judges mull over vast quantities of evidence

Judges have been quick to quash other Tasmanian high-profile murder appeals, with some resolved in a matter of days – others taking months. See the only option left to Sue Neill-Fraser if her appeal fails >>

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BOTH sides of the Sue Neill-Fraser saga face an anxious wait while the judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal mull over whether or not to order a retrial.

There is no time limit for the court to return its judgment, meaning it could be delivered as soon as this week – or months into the future.

According to recent Tasmanian Court of Criminal Appeal judgments concerning murder appeals, time frames have ranged from same-day decisions to weeks or months later.

If the court dismisses Neill-Fraser’s case, her legal team could then apply to the High Court for special leave to appeal the Tasmanian decision.

Rosie Crumpton-Crook at the Sue Neill-Fraser appeal hearing at the Supreme Court in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Key Neill-Fraser supporter Rosie Crumpton-Crook said she wasn’t expecting a judgment any time soon given the voluminous size of the appeal books that Justices Helen Wood, Stephen Estcourt and Robert Pearce now needed to pore over.

“The judges have got a huge amount of information to go through and obviously that’s not going to happen in a few days,” she said.

“I think most people are expecting it to be weeks and maybe a few months.

“Everything about Sue’s case seems to have been so stretched out, nothing has gone quickly and smoothly. It’s a real unknown. People just don’t know how long it’s going to be but I think most people are anticipating it’s going to be a bit of a wait.”

A sketch of Sue Neill-Fraser during her appeal in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Hobart on March 3, 2021. Credit: Christopher Downes

She also said supporters were “quite tired, quite drained” after an emotional three days.

Recent murder appeals in the Tasmanian Court of Criminal Appeal have returned judgments within widely varying time frames.

Launceston woman Belinda Colbran was convicted of murder after she provide her boyfriend Nathan Smith with a wolf-headed knife, then held victim Aaron Monaco while her partner stabbed him to death.

The Court of Criminal Appeal heard Colbran’s fight against her 24-year jail sentence on August 25, 2020, dismissing her appeal in under a month on September 17.

Hobart woman Margaret Otto was convicted of murder after she plotted the death of her husband with Dwayne “Doc” Davies with the man who pulled the trigger, Bradley Scott Purkiss.

The court is yet to deliver its judgment over her appeal against conviction, which was heard over several days from September 28 last year.

Launceston man Anthony Colin Finnegan was convicted of murder after he stomped the head of victim Peter John Fitzgerald.

He appealed his conviction and sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal, with hearings on December 13, 2019 and again on March 5 the following year.

The judges returned their judgment dismissing his appeal the same day.

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