In the early hours of February 26th, 2010, Josh Warneke, age 21 years was found dead, lying on the side of Old Broome Road. He was last seen walking home after a night out with friends in Broome and to this day no one knows what happened to him. In the decade after his murder, lots occurred including the wrongful imprisonment of Kiwirrkurra man Gene Gibson, the mother of Josh is still seeking for answers to this day. Within the time that Gene was being investigated there were many principles of justice that were abused, and it was only towards when he applied for an appeal where they were starting to properly be followed.
There are several of principles of justice that are designed to create equality and freedom for all in the court of law within Australia. This means that everyone is to be treated fairly no matter who they are when undergoing trial or being investigated.
An example of some principles of justice includes the Indigenous to be read out the Anunga guidelines when being investigated or arrested. These guidelines consist of many rights including the right to an interpreter if they can’t understand or speak English fluently, to be cautioned properly by a police officer, right to legal aid if they’re financially disadvantaged or otherwise also have the right to hire their own lawyer, a friend of the prisoner is permitted to be present but only if they will support them. Police intimidation of witnesses is also forbidden which is where police pressure a witness/suspect into pleading or making a false confession, right to appeal meaning that if the accused believes that their sentence unjust and wants to have their sentence either decreased or quashed altogether. These principles of justice are used to protect us all but are sometimes abused by the police as they’re extremely high in power and can disadvantage an individual throughout the course of an investigation which is what occurred in the Gene Gibson case.
One of the many principles that was violated in the Gene Gibson case is that everyone is equal by the law. This was abused as Gene was an Indigenous man meaning that the Anunga guidelines were supposed to be read out to him when being interviewed by police but no attempt was made for them to be read out. Some of the rights within the Anunga guidelines include a caution to the right of silence which he wasn’t informed about, wasn’t told about his right to legal aid until quite late in the case and the right to a trained interpreter which he wasn’t provided with in the interviews as he only had a fellow indigenous elder with him who was pressuring him into saying what the police wanted to hear. These examples have demonstrated that Gene wasn’t treated fairly or with equability before the law.
Another element of the Gene Gibson case that represented a miscarriage of justice was the police intimidation of witnesses. This means that police pressure a witness/suspect into pleading to a guilty verdict or providing false evidence that can help lead to the conviction of a suspect. To me this was one of the main factors that lead to his wrongful prosecution, if Gene understood better and decided to plead not guilty then the police would have presented the confession in which they pressured Gene to explain what happened so that it would place him, where Josh was found and similarly fit what the forensic pathologists found to be what occurred during the feud based on Josh’ injuries and what his cause of death was. Except the confession that Gene made, he was pressured to say by police and an Indigenous elder who were pressuring him into telling him what the police wanted to hear. As Gene’s first language wasn’t English and he was a ‘people pleaser’ this made it even easier for the police to get that false confession. This example has demonstrated that police intimidation of witnesses was a key element that led to Gene’s wrongful imprisonment.
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An element of the Gene Gibson case that was supported was the right to an appeal. After serving nearly 5 years in prison, his legal team and the victim’s mother Ingrid Bishop applied and supported for Gene to get an appeal against his sentence meaning that his case could have the possibility to be overturned which the judge eventually granted for his case to be heard again. The right to an appeal means that the accused has the potential to have a reduced sentence or for it to just be quashed altogether. When Gene’s case was heard in the Western Australian Court of Appeal the judge quashed his conviction because of the many miscarriages of justice that occurred including police intimidation of witnesses and the right to equability as well as there being no concrete proof, only his forced confession.
In the end after his wrongful imprisonment, he was given $1.5million compensation. This shows what the miscarriages of justice can lead to as this forever affects the victim and will change their life forever as there will always be this scar within them from this tragic event. Josh’s killer hasn’t been caught to this day and his mother is still seeking closure in this case.