In this project, we partnered up and chose a topic to research. My pair (Georgia Dolley and Jessica Lim) chose COVID-19. We had to work together to get the tasks done, present them in a professional matter, and sort through the plethora of data we received. After discussing the options, we had regarding data collection, we decided to format our survey and send it out to a more concentrated group of students, our own maths class. Splitting the work up evenly and working through it in and out of class we created an easy-to-follow breakdown and description of the raw data we collected.

By Georgia Dolley

The principles of justice are put in place to ensure a fair trial for everybody, unfortunately sometimes this is not the case. For example, Gene Gibson a young 18-year-old aboriginal man from a small rural town was accused and charged with manslaughter despite having nothing to do with the crime. Three of the principles of justice were not upheld during Mr. Gibson’s prosecution and one principle was. The right to remain silent, standard and burden of proof, equal treatment before the law and Gene used his right to appeal a few years later. Throughout this case, I will be discussing the extent to which justice has been upheld and the injustice that Gene Gibson was victim to.

On the 26th February 2010, Josh Warneke, a 21-year-old man was found on the side of the road with severe head injuries. 2 years after Warneke’s passing, Gene Gibson was brought into questioning as a witness after claims he was at the crime scene on the night. After 8 hours of questioning, 2 of which without legal representation or an interpreter. Mr. Gibson had never had issues with the law before and therefore was unaware of his rights throughout the majority of the process. Gene was sentenced and sent to prison where he would sit for the next five years.

Equal treatment before the law means to be treated the same as everybody else despite your race, gender, age, or in this case language barriers. This is a right to ensure that all people won’t be taken advantage of by the law and all people will be fully aware of everything that is happening. Gene Gibson was not once given equal treatment before the law and was frequently taken advantage of. During Mr. Gibson’s 8-hour long interview he was unaware of his right to an interpreter and right to a psychological evaluation. The police department had a 2 hour ‘off-book’ interview with Gibson with no interpreter or legal representation. Years later Gene would be tested and labeled severely illiterate, meaning during hose 2 hours he would not have understood any of the questions or legal proceeding going on. Gibson was also diagnosed with severe cognitive impairments, meaning with his condition he would be unfit to answer any questions and able, to tell the truth, while answering them. Part of his condition meant that Gibson was unable to properly participate in basic day to day tasks, he only wanted to please people and would do anything to achieve that, i.e. lie, he was also a very shy and reserved person who got easily uncomfortable when doing the same thing for a long period.

 Standard and burden of proof mean that Mr. Gibson would have had to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The definition of this is the burden of proofs is given to the prosecution where it is their responsibility to prove the accused is guilty. The standard of proof is the level of surety that the accused is guilty. This however was not the case throughout Gene’s case. After the interviews had been ruled unusable, there was no proof except a butchered statement, where the witness came forward and said he is unsure if it was Gibson or not at the crime scene. During the court case, the interviews (ruled unusable) were the only evidence in the case. Confirming that there was no clear evidence in the case. Gene couldn’t have been prosecuted as the evidence was not up to the standards expected.   

The right to silence means that at any time in the case you can stay silent, not answering any questions, and only give your name and address. This is important in any case as you could inadvertently self-incriminate. Mr. Gibson was unaware of this throughout the whole investigation and trial and continued to be interviewed by the police. Before he got the chance to speak with a lawyer, Gibson was interviewed as a witness for 2 hours, (being interviewed as a witness meant that the officers investigating his case could get away with interviewing him without a lawyer for a short time.) The officers were talking to Gibson and treating him as a witness on paper but in the actual interview was treating him as a suspect and trying to get a confession. After a lawyer was finally called via phone (after the initial 2 hours) she requested the interviewing to stop, but the officers in charge of the case just hung up the phone and continued. Gene was interviewed for another six hours again the lawyer’s wishes. The accused was never given the right to silence throughout the whole case.

Although lots of different principles of justice were not upheld Mr. Gibson did execute his right to appeal. Right to appeal is defined as a person who has been convicted by a jury or has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced by a court judge has a right of appeal. For Gene, about five years after his imprisonment he applied for his case to be reviewed and applied for an appeal. He was quickly granted an appeal after the new judge saw the unfair conditions he was put under. Leaving prison with 1.3 million dollars in compensation. After he was released the officers in question were arrested, fined, and had their licenses revoked.

Although Gene Gibson’s case has a happy ending it could have been completely avoided if the law enforcement followed the principles of justice. Gene was not given the right to silence, burden, and standard of proof or equal treatment before the law, causing an innocent man to spend over 5 years of his life in prison. The principles of justice are to ensure a fair and equal trial for everyone, these rights need to be followed at all times.