Extract from The Telegraph:
A 19-year-old deaf woman in Australia charged with throwing her boyfriend’s flatmate from a balcony was allegedly filmed on CCTV using sign language to plot the attack, telling her alleged conspirators: “I think a fall is better.”
A court in Melbourne heard that Georgia Fields was filmed discussing the plot on a train and in the apartment building in which their alleged victim lived. She and her two alleged conspirators are all deaf, as was the victim.
She has admitted to participating in the plot but allegedly told police she did not intend to murder the victim, 36-year-old Robert Wright.
“I thought he’d break an arm or a leg,” she allegedly said. “I didn’t think he’d die … I’m truly shocked.”
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Cathy
June 26, 2015
What a dreadful event! But there is not really enough information here to determine whether or not one feels the charge is correct.
Where did she plan for him to fall? Was it from a block of flats high up? Was it from a train? Was he pushed from a great height?
Questions like this are important because it would mean this deaf woman could or could not use the excuse that she thought he would just break an arm or leg. If from a block of flats 13ft up she would have known his death was certain and therefore we would know she is lying about just letting him “fall to break a leg” in order to save her own skin!!!
Interesting that she was caught out with sign language although it doesn’t determine whether she mentioned the man’s name. Convictions cannot be based on someone talking about a “fall”. The victim’s name would have to be there in the conversation with a direct link that she was indeed planning to kill him, otherwise at best, it should be classed as manslaughter.
Like I say this story doesn’t tell us enough to determine anything and therefore we can’t determine if its a miscarriage of justice or not!
Cathy
June 26, 2015
“The train” is mistake!!
pennybsl
June 26, 2015
Extract from the newspaper – “A sign language interpreter studied the film but could not identify some parts of the conversation because the three appeared to be using slang”…….where are the Deaf experts in Australia?
In the UK we know of Deaf professionals being called forward to view communication by deaf people, even lipreading hearing people caught in film.
Cathy
June 28, 2015
This means there could possibly be a miscarriage of justice, as I first suspected? How do they determine who is a deaf “expert?”
Iam aware of deaf professionals here in the UK lipreading for crime events etc but what if they are wrong? And how indeed is slang accounted for?
I would not dare bring about a conviction on a deaf person based on a viewed piece of film by someone who is unsure what is being said. It is very dangerous territory for both the victim, accused aswell as the courts and the Police.