1982 lindy chamberlains trial

I've never seen a case more governed by human frailties. Tony Jones, government pathologist in the Chamberlain trial. Home » The Story » Timeline of Events. June 11, Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain born.

August 17, 9 weeks, 4 days, approx. Site Development by: Filipino Web Developer. Timeline of Events. Further Reading :. The Story. Why did this happen? Isa, and car searched. Ken Brown requests permission to do further tests on the jumpsuit. In the foreground is the newly constructed dingo fence. Credit: Michael Rayner. Addressing the jury yesterday, he drew their attention to the two TV cameras relaying proceedings to media people gathered in a building down the street.

Don't get the idea you are erupting to stardom because you are not. And on that little note, which made everyone smile, he adjourned the proceedings so that the jurors, having just been empanelled, could go away and have a cup of tea. The tension that accompanies the start of any big trial was defused.

Looking at Mr Justice Muirhead sitting high on the bench in his wig and scarlet robe it is hard not to feel sympathy for him when someone tells you that the humidity outside is 90 per cent. True, the court is air conditioned, but yesterday there were so many people inside it, and there was so much coming and going that the body of the court became quite warm.

The day began when Mr and Mrs Chamberlain drew up at the court in a red Mazda driven by a man. All three were swiftly out of the car for a walk of about six seconds across the nature strip and footpath, then up some steps and through a makeshift barricade. They looked straight ahead and greeted no one.

Some of the television crews and photographers had been waiting for 90 minutes. Perhaps 30 or 40 other spectators were there. They lined up on the other tide of the street in a little park. And then the case began. God save the Queen. Surrounded by the media, Lindy Chamberlain leaves the court. Mr Justice Muirhead has this very considerate way of addressing people.

So many people were in the jury pool that not all of them could find seats. Addressing them, Mr Justice Muirhead said the trail would probably be longer than average: it might go to six weeks or so, and in addition, the jury might have to go to Ayers Rock and stay overnight for what was known as a view. This trial, he said, had been the subject of great national publicity, and the reason it was being held in Darwin was that the people there had not been subjected to the intensity of publicity imposed upon their fellow territorians at Alice Springs, the site of two inquests.

He told the jury: "Gossip and rumor are inevitably wrong. The only thing we act on is the evidence we hear within these walls and see within these walls. Mr Justice Muirhead then had his associate read 44 names of witnesses to appear at the trial.

He told the jury pool that if any of them had a professional relationship with these witnesses, or if they had a close personal relationship with a police officer, they should seek to be excused.

Otherwise, he said, the jury system could break down. Four people were excused by prior arrangement because of language difficulty. Out of nine people who then applied for exemption, Mr Justice Muirhead excused eight.

The one exception was a woman who handed him a statutory declaration. After studying the document, Mr Justice Muirhead said the woman was concerned about whether she could be impartial or not.

Among the people Mr Justice Muirhead did exempt was a housewife with children aged six and three. He replied at once: "Yes, I excuse you.

He excused a man who runs a small business with his wife and he excused a woman on the verge at travel to see her sick father. He also excused two women who, he said, were known to him personally. Thirty names were called from the jury pool before a jury was empanelled. It contains three women and nine men. The Chamberlains challenged 11 people and the Crown challenged seven.

Mr Justice Muirhead then told the remaining members of the pool that they could go home, and he said they should listen to the radio on Wednesday morning. This broadcast would tell them whether to come back to court or not. The judge then began a longer address to the 12 people who remained.

He warned them of the dangers of talking to anybody but themselves about the case and he said they must not be dismayed if counsel passed them in the street without a nod: they could not talk to counsel without his presence and the presence of the two people on trial. Scott D, Australia This was trial by media and prejudice of the worst kind, which shamed Australia. Those at Uluru on the night of Azaria's disappearance did not doubt she had been taken by a dingo; their views were not presented adequately at the trial.

At the time of her conviction, I was studying law, and wondered why I should bother, given that a furore generated by media coverage could dictate the outcome of a trial. It was certainly justice denied, but then, Lindy Chamberlain was never going to be fairly tried in the NT, or perhaps anywhere in Australia.

Everyone had an opinion about this case, and even now, regrettably, it can cause division. People in the suburbs related the behaviour of a dingo to that of their domestic dogs. Attacks by dingoes on Fraser Island in recent years have confirmed the threat they can pose to humans.

Lindy Chamberlain was judged because of her religious beliefs Seventh Day Adventist and because she apparently didn't behave according to some perceptions of how a grieving mother should behave.

The family not only suffered the loss of a beloved child but the acrimony and judgement of a nation. John Bryson's book, later made into a film, was an important step in correcting the record.