Alinta wrote on Jan 12
th, 2016 at 1:51pm:
Posted by: Alinta Posted on: Today at 1:51pm
I hear your frustration with proving intent Cods !!!!!!
I’ll attempt to explain it by example of evidence in the Baden Clay trial……everyday language, not legal terminology as such.
One of the Baden-Clay’s daughters was the last to see both parents in the home………Allison on the couch watching TV and Gerard walking down the stairs wearing pyjamas and shoes and stated he was going to do the ironing. His daughter asked a question about the shoes and he told her “I always wear shoes to do the ironing”.
Despite Gerards’s evidence that he went to bed at 10pm leaving Allison on the couch watching TV, other evidence shows that at some stage, he and Allison moved outdoors.
Who suggested this, or why, we don’t know…….but it is reasonable that they did not want the children to be woken.
Did Gerard fess up to the ongoing relationship with McHugh before she and Allison met next day at the conference? Or…
Did Allison ask questions about Gerard’s relationship with McHugh as part of the discussion sessions recommended by her counsellor? Or ……
Something else entirely?
We do not know why, but the evidence shows that outdoors, an altercation occurred.
Did Gerard attack her because he “lost it” with being continually pressed for intimate details about the extra marital relationship? Did Allison scratch his face to ward off the attack? Did Gerard push her away resulting in a fall that killed her? After his face was scratched, did Gerard strangle her?
Did Allison scratch his face because he confessed the relationship with McHugh was ongoing? Did Gerard retaliate by pushing her away resulting in a fall that killed her? Did Gerard retaliate by strangling her?
WE JUST DON’T KNOW THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ALTERCATION……..all are plausible and there is no evidence that one is more so than the others. Did he mean/intend to kill her? Or did he mean/intend to push her away out of arms reach?
To prove intent to kill would require all other possible scenarios I've suggested above be eliminated by Prosecution evidence, leaving no reasonable doubt that he meant to kill her.
So at this stage, there is no evidence of proof beyond reasonable doubt of intent to kill.
Moving on to the autopsy evidence……
Cause of death could not be determined. As each day passed with further decomposition, many clues were lost. IF for example the cause of death was found to be strangulation, the Prosecution would have evidence to eliminate the other possible scenarios I’ve mentioned above and would use cause of death evidence to show/prove intent.
Hope this helps!!!
thank you yes and no alinta...I know I am a bugger I see things from a different angle I have always been the same..things are never straight forward...
as you have said .. so many variations...and we all have one...but only the appeal court has any rights..
tell me this....having his sentence down graded.. sorry if thats the wrong thing but thats how all us upsetters see it..... why would they not.. tell him.. the accused..
that should we look at this appeal... should the accused not be required to tell us the real story of what took place....
no kidding... manslaughter still means she is dead...and he was there....and he did some terrible things after her death.. remember she has a family... as well as 3 girls...who deserve to know the truth............if he gets away with manslaughter he will still appeal that because he has never admitted anything...btw I didnt know about the outside part.. is that in the book???...
in your case that you sent me... the autopsy showed pollen in the nose of the dead body...from her own front verge and she was buried under dirt......yet this autopsy on Allison gave us not one clue...her hair was full of debris which I thought was an amazing bit of forensics...how come the bloody autopsy showed nothing????????.....
if the only witness is the accused and he claims he wasnt there...how on earth can anyone PROVE what he was thinking???........men do snap you know.. look at the man whos just killed his two little boys... even his wife says he was the perfect father...........?????............would you like to prove what was going through HIS MIND?????....
this business of PROOF beyond... needs looking at ...and I still dont know where the line in the sand is FOR PROOF?.. is it just conjuring a scenario that suits the appeal court judges...???
if as you say it took place outside the home.. and her hair was full of stuff she ended up on the ground....why couldnt he have throttled her on the ground....hand over nose and mouth... he is big enough...how do you prove he didnt???>..