Police Investigation

Justice can be achieved through various legal processes such as; police investigations and coronial inquests. Legal principles are instrumental in achieving justice such as; the rights of the accused and victims, and equality before the court. When these processes and principles are applied correctly, justice can be achieved this is demonstrated in two Australian cases; Mallard v. The Queen (2005) and a Missing Persons Case Kieffen Raggett (2007). These two cases demonstrate how legal principles and processes can achieve and deny justice, depending on how they are applied in the situation.

Police investigations are vital in the Australian legal system, and can be a huge part of if justice is denied or achieved. The main role of a police investigation

This case includes the legal principles of rights of the accused and victims and access to justice, it includes the legal process of a police investigation. Andrew Mallard was convicted of the murder of Pamela Lawrence on 15 November 1995. Lawrence was found in her jewellery store on 23 May 1994, the police investigated around 200 suspects, but continually returned to Mallard. Mallard was suspected because he was living close to the murder scene, and according to the police ‘fit the bill’. At the time of the murder, Mallard was being treated at Graylands psychiatric hospital, it was here he was first interviewed, later he was interviewed at the police station for 8 hours, this was not recorded. Mallard stated that during these interviews he was asked to put “forward his own theories of how it had been committed” (Fair Trials 2013). This demonstrates the denial of the rights of the accused as a mentally ill suspect was taken advantage of and coerced into admitting guilt. This can be seen as coercion and a violation of Mallard’s right to not be compelled to admit guilt (ICCPR). Mallard was questioned continually by police, during which he was bullied and assaulted. This demonstrates the denial of justice, as the police investigation was deeply flawed and conducted unethically. Mallard consistently refused to sign interviews as they did not accurately reflect

Raggett was an indigenous boy who went missing in the Northern Territory on 2 November 2007. After an extensive search he was found deceased in a muddy waterhole around 500m from the home in Borroloola. When the body was found, police quickly concluded that the cause of death was an accidental drowning, which was then filed as non-suspicious awaiting a coroner’s autopsy. This meant that the case was not given priority or resources, that it needed. Inevitably, this led to the police investigation being conducted improperly, and evidence being destroyed and compromised. There was little to no evidence which supported the theory of an accidental drowning or excluded foul play. It was asserted in the coronial inquest in 2010 that there was a “lack of diligence by members and their supervisors in the initial investigation of this young boy’s death” (Cavanaugh, G 2011). This demonstrates the issues within the police investigation and the denial of justice. An initial autopsy was conducted by Doctor Terrence Sinton on 6 October 2007, during which, other evidence was considered such as the rocks that were found inside Raggett’s shorts and the red t-shirt that was found, yet Dr. Sinton still asserted that “given the history and autopsy findings it