SydneySiders

I apologize upfront for posting this in the JBR forum, but some posters only read in this forum.

Just wanted to tell all people who live in Sydney, Australia, that on Sunday 14 of august (this sun comming) there will be a big symposium on the Chamberlain case - 'Lindy Chamberlain: Nation, Law, Memory' - to be held at Macquarie University.

So for those aussies that have followed the case over the years check out:
http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/events/index.asp?ItemID=2082

Lindy Chamberlain will be speaking also!

Sorry again

Well I'm in Australia Charlie but I'm not in Sydney.

I havent much followed the Chamberlain case but did mention it just a little while back on this forum.

I've always thought there was a great similarity between the Chamberlain case and the Ramsey case. The way the public developed such a hatred for her because she was different, the way the media fueled much of that attitude, the way (with few exceptions) LE insisted she was guilty and manipulated the evidence to prove they were right.

Here's a quick refresher of her case
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/chamberlain/chamberlainaccount.html

"What went wrong? Convictions of the innocent usually result from inaccurate eyewitness testimony (generally the least reliable evidence in a trial because of biases and the tricks of memory), but Lindy Chamberlain was convicted by flawed forensic evidence and by investigators and prosecutors unwilling to reconsider their assumptions in the face of contradictory evidence. The trial of Lindy Chamberlain, and her husband Michael, is a cautionary tale that everyone who practices forensic science should carefully consider. "

I remember that movie. I rented it when it first became available on video. I was so angered and upset by it. That is why I am very skeptical in cases where LE zeroes in immediately on the parents simply because, well, they were there, and the statistics show that parents are usually involved. And I really don't understand the way people point fingers because, "Well, they just don't act like someone who has lost a baby/child/children." I pray that those persons never have to stand in the shoes of a parent with a missing/murdered child, horror-stricken, in shock, grieving, and very possibly heavily medicated, thinking they have to be in some sort of nightmare and just need to wake up, with people whispering, "She just doesn't act like a mother in pain." Gosh I imagine it has to be like everything blurring together first in slow motion, and then spinning around so fast that you can't even get your footing. I remember my 3 year old (our firstborn) got away from daddy at the zoo. It was the worst experience of my life. I remember just running around trying to find him, and then my husband did. I stayed with the baby, while he basically ran laps thru the aquarium. People were trying to help us, and I literally sank to my knees and prayed. It was the sickest feeling I ever had, and I couldn't get my bearings. I was grabbing people and begging them to find my baby. Security came and asked me a bunch of questions, and I was trying to remember everything, and this guy who sees this all the time I'm sure, was so nonchalant and almost bored as he made his report. I could hear everything around me, but it was almost like static. Just a bunch of senseless noise.

Finally, someone found him, and my husband and I just took him and left as our day was ruined. I was a basket-case, and he was trying to keep it together. Later that night, he broke down and sobbed. I almost cry just retelling the story. This was the short version.

Anyway~~my heart goes out to anyone when their child disappears~~even if for a short time, like my little boy. That stinker....