Australia Australia - Two Female Backpackers attacked at Salt Creek, SA, 9 Feb 2016

[JudgeJudi]

While there's a break in proceedings ... the following 2 tweets were posted last Friday after the tweet saying court was adjourned for the week:

Sean Fewster‏ @SeanFewster Mar 16

Abdul Karim Mohammed outside the #SaltCreek trial. Says alleged victim reacted "like she had seen the devil".

 

[JudgeJudi]

Ali Mohammed outside the #SaltCreek trial.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster 14m
#SaltCreek trial now hearing from Dr Lyndall Young from Yarrow Place - an #Adelaide facility that helps adult sexual assault victims.

Dr Young examined the Brazilian backpacker the day after the alleged incident and recorded her injuries.

Dr Young says Brazilian had long scratches on her legs and thigh, purple bruise under one eye, abrasions and swelling on face.

Dr Young says these, along with bruises to left ear and left ear drum, were likely caused by blunt force trauma.

Dr Young: "I don't think you can explain all these injuries with 1 blow. I think there would have had to be more than 1 blow."

Dr Young says Brazilian - who DPP alleges was tied up - had level 3cm and 4.5cm horizontal abrasions across both her ankles.
[and this was the day following the attack ... I can’t bring myself to say alleged attack]

Dr Young says marks on ankles - and similar ones on wrists - "could well have been caused" by rope or cord.

Dr Young says Brazilian also had "a rather haphazard pattern" of abrasions across her breasts.


#SaltCreek trial now hearing from Max Harrison, who was fishing with friends on the day of the alleged incident.

His evidence will continue after lunch. #SaltCreek trial adjourned until 2.15pm.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 1m
#SaltCreek trial has resumed; fisherman Max Harrison continues his evidence.

He says he and his friends saw Brazilian being rescued by the Mohammeds, then spoke to off-duty police also fishing at #SaltCreek.

Mr Harrison says the accused's 4WD then drove past them all into dunes - off-duty police blocked the beach while he and friends followed.

"We stopped, we didn't want to get closer because we didn't know what was happening. Then we saw a figure start to walk toward us."

It was quite sluggish. We couldn't honestly tell if the figure was male or female. I honestly thought it was dark-skinned from a distance."

"When she got within 20, 15m we recognised it was (the German). She wasn't running because she was struggling to breathe."

"She said she had been hit by a car, and asked us if the injury on her head was bad. We said 'no' but it was significant."

Mr Harrison says the German had a tennis ball-sized lump on her head with "a lot of blood coming out of it".

"Her hair was thick with blood, her chest and face were filled with blood. We gave her a towel to clean up some of the blood."

It was very overwhelming. She told us it was like something out of a horror movie. She said she'd been hit over the head with a hammer..."

"... and had been hit by a car, driven over. She was very scared, like she hadn't believed what had happened... she was quite fragile."

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 51m
Mr Harrison's friend tells trial they "screamed at (the German) to run" but she didn't. "We were in shock. She was very shocked herself".

"There was an open wound on her head that was clearly pulsating blood," he says.

Fellow fisherman Nick Campbell says it was "probably the most blood I had ever seen" on a person.

 

[Jo04]

Wow these women are strong. They are both so lucky. Just read the thread. Had heard a little on the news but not much. Is the trial on again tomorrow? Scary stuff

Sent from my ZTE Blade L5 using Tapatalk

 

[JudgeJudi]

Yes, will run all week and possibly a day or two next week.

 

[Jo04]

Only just realised that this happened last February. They really did suppress it. Im SA and heard nothing about it until the trail started

Sent from my ZTE Blade L5 using Tapatalk

 

[MsAnais]

Only just realised that this happened last February. They really did suppress it. Im SA and heard nothing about it until the trail started

Sent from my ZTE Blade L5 using Tapatalk

Wow - that's wild.

It still seems outrageous to me, this level of suppression.

 

[BReVeTTe]

Only just realised that this happened last February. They really did suppress it. Im SA and heard nothing about it until the trail started

Sent from my ZTE Blade L5 using Tapatalk

likewise, jo
i'm within 20km of his suburb, and use gumtree
...that's very creepy


[emoji887]

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 1m1 minute ago
SaltCreek trial resumes with evidence from DNA expert Dr Duncan Taylor, from Forensic Science SA.

Dr Taylor says as blood on the front of the accused's 4WD is "100 billion times more likely" to belong to the German.

Dr Taylor says the same DNA ratio was found for numerous other "blood-like stains" in and on accused's 4WD.

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 24m
Dr Taylor also examined accused's shirt. Says it displayed "heavy blood-like staining" on its front, some on back.

Dr Taylor says there were drops of blood-like staining across top of shirt, "larger stain" further down, on right cuff.

Dr Taylor says shirt's mixed DNA profile matched accused and blood was "100 billion times more likely" to have come from German.

Dr Taylor says accused's jeans had numerous blood-like stains "from quite low on the cuffs all the way up to the waist band".

As with 4WD and shirt, Dr Taylor says the stains were a greater than 100 billion match to German's DNA.

Dr Taylor says blood-like staining on accused's shovel also a greater than 100 billion match to German's DNA.

Dr Taylor tested crotch of Brazilian's bikini bottoms for saliva DNA. DPP alleges it was used to try and gag her.

Dr Taylor says bikinis matched Brazilian's saliva and, in one section, "44 million in favour" of accused's DNA being present.

A samples from Brazilian's breasts were positive for saliva, greater than 100 billion likelihood it came from accused.

Dr Taylor says accused's DNA was also found on Brazilian's neck and face. DPP alleges he kissed, licked, spat on her.

#SaltCreek trial has adjourned for an hour, will resume at 12.30pm. Jury told DPP expects to conclude its case today.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 2m
#SaltCreek trial resumes. Jurors told laptop was seized from accused's house after arrest, and iPhone was found in door pocket of 4WD.

#SaltCreek trial adjourned for lunch. Back at 2.15pm with final DPP witness.

 

[BReVeTTe]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 2m
#SaltCreek trial resumes. Jurors told laptop was seized from accused's house after arrest, and iPhone was found in door pocket of 4WD.

#SaltCreek trial adjourned for lunch. Back at 2.15pm with final DPP witness.

whose iPhone was found?
was it the accused, or the tourist's phone?

oh, i see #335 ... that answers that then
[emoji887]

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 30m30 minutes ago
DNA expert gives evidence in #SaltCreek trial about accused man's bloody car, clothes: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/...e/news-story/9e9f446a6146218032568091daf6afd1 …

The above link provides links to all previous days' evidence.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Sean Fewster @SeanFewster · 1m
The #SaltCreek trial has resumed with evidence from Jeremy Handley, a police officer who examined accused's computers and mobile phone.

Detective Brevet Sergeant Handley says laptop was recovered from under accused's bed. Phone was in 4WD on beach at #SaltCreek.

Handley says he found 95 pornographic images, among thousands of normal images, on the laptop.

He says 37 showed women wearing some form of mouth gag.

He says 34 images showed women showed women with arms or wrists bound, 29 with hands and feet bound.

He says 5 images showed women with their hands bound, and 20 involved sexual acts including penetration.

Handley outlines 10 Internet searches using "rape terms", carried out on accused's laptop, between Nov '15 and Jan '16

He says another search was a website for a business selling "bondage products".

Handley says the iPhone, found in accused's 4WD, had two pornographic videos plus stills from those videos.

One video featured 1 bound woman, the second featured 2. Each was last accessed on Feb 7, '16 - 2 days before alleged #SaltCreek incident.

The DPP has closed its case. Defence says it will not be calling any evidence.

:behindbar

Remember: it's the DPP's job to prove an accused is guilty. It's NOT the accused's job to prove they are not.

Jurors told they will hear DPP and defence closing addresses tomorrow.

Jurors told they will hear judge's summing up on Thursday, then be invited to retire to consider their verdicts on the charges.

 

[JudgeJudi]

Wow, I didn't foresee this. I don't know how common it is for there to be no defence evidence at all, but I've never seen it. Usually something is offered up, no matter how lame. Assuming he's found guilty, I imagine he'll watch the proceedings and be sentenced via video link.

 

[DRT]

It is pretty shocking that there seemingly is no defence. The cross questioning was he said, she said, his word against hers. Trying to be open minded the only thing I could think of would be a conspiracy theory of 2 friends conspiring against him but the doctors evidence and the DNA and those horrible internet history just got worse and worse. No friends to say what a wonderful man he was?

 

[aequitas]

1. In all the reports from Sean Fewster are we missing some testimony? It seems no reference to all testimony or all witnesses questioned was covered. Is this because it was boring or Suppressed?
2. Hmmm,accused only had 95 *advertiser censored* images? Um really? Need some FBI style analysis on those electronic devices or.... is it Suppressed?
Anyone know? JJ?

 

[JudgeJudi]

Aggravation and mitigation form part of sentencing submissions. I’m unaware if friends can appear for convicted persons in Australian courts.

While we don’t know much about RH at all, here’s a list that outlines common mitigating circumstances.

(a) the injury, emotional harm, loss or damage caused by the offence was not substantial,
(b) the offence was not part of a planned or organized criminal activity,
(c) the offender was provoked by the victim,
(d) the offender was acting under duress,
(e) the offender does not have any record (or any significant record) of previous convictions,
(f) the offender was a person of good character,
(g) the offender is unlikely to re-offend,
(h) the offender has good prospects of rehabilitation, whether by reason of the offender’s age or otherwise,
(i) the offender has shown remorse for the offence by making compensation (reparation) for any injury, loss or damage or in any other manner,
(j) the offender was not fully aware of the consequences of his or her actions because of the offender’s age or any disability,
(k) a plea of guilty by the offender
(l) the degree of pre-trial disclosure by the defence,
(m) assistance by the offender to law enforcement authorities

The only ones which may apply would appear to be (e) and (f). He’s going to be locked up for a long, long time, I hope.

I just found a good article on the sentencing process in South Australia.

http://sa.criminallegal.com.au/crimes/the-sentencing-process-south-australia/#

 

[DRT]

I was trying to think logically with this about who the defence could get to be a witness. Anyone that was at Salt Creek at the time who had assisted and seen anything was a witness for the prosecution. The only way to really defend this with witnesses would be medical and DNA experts. The medical witnesses would need to prove that the German's injuries were from falling off the 4 wheel drive and the DNA on the Brazilian's body may not have been caused by that stated by the prosecution. I assume the Defence has had access to the results for a while so could call in the appropriate witnesses if possible.