Gerard Baden-Clay manslaughter verdict: Dutton agrees ‘law is an ass’
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Version 0 of 1. A newspaper was “dead right” to call the law an ass after Gerard Baden-Clay’s conviction for killing his wife, Allison, was downgraded from murder to manslaughter, the acting justice minister, Peter Dutton, has said. “The law’s an ass and sorry to say that’s the reality,” Dutton told 2GB Radio on Thursday. Today's front page. Here you can read the editorial that goes with it: https://t.co/hXBAE6dJsG pic.twitter.com/cnyHDipU5m “Judges should have independence but they should reflect community views.” Dutton said the Courier-Mail and its editor, Chris Dore, got it right on Wednesday’s front page, which was headlined “the law is an ass” in response to the court of appeal’s manslaughter verdict. “Nobody is saying that there is an investigation ongoing to find who the killer was of Allison,” Dutton said. Related: Gerard Baden-Clay's murder conviction downgraded to manslaughter “I feel for those poor girls and Allison’s parents – they are to be dragged through this again. “This bloke, if he had one shred of decency would stick his hand up, he would cop the consequences and admit to what he’s done for the sake of his own daughters.” In August, Baden-Clay had challenged last year’s conviction for murdering his wife on several grounds, including that the jury’s verdict was unreasonable. The Queensland chief justice, Catherine Holmes, and two other court of appeal judges set aside last year’s trial verdict on Tuesday and changed it to manslaughter. Legal experts say the decision means Baden-Clay could be out of jail in a few years. The state attorney general’s department is seeking legal advice about appealing against the manslaughter conviction. Related: Gerard Baden-Clay lodges appeal two days after murder conviction “The department is working extremely hard to get that advice as soon as possible,” the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said on Thursday. “But this is a very serious issue and once we get that advice we’ll be making a more formal comment.” |