PRESENTS — The Case Of
Now, croc wrangler Matt Wright is on trial: not for the crash, but for what he allegedly did after. Charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, prosecutors say he tried to interfere with the investigation, fearing he'd be blamed for the crash. Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty and denies all the allegations.
The Case Of is your eyes and ears inside the courtroom, as host Stephen Stockwell and reporter Olivana Lathouris bring you updates from the trial.
Search for 'The Case Of' now, and hit follow or subscribe to make sure you don't miss any of the twists and turns in the case of the croc wrangler.
The Case Of is the follow-up to the hit podcast Mushroom Case Daily, and all episodes of that show will remain available in the back catalogue of The Case Of.
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ABC News
3 minutes ago
- ABC News
'Sovereign citizens' threaten safety, stability of society, WA Chief Justice Peter Quinlan says
Western Australia's top judge says everyone should be concerned about the rise of 'sovereign citizens' who do not believe in the law, warning of the risks to "the safety and stability" of society. A Four Corners investigation yesterday highlighted the growing trend of so-called sovereign citizens, who believe the government is illegitimate. "I've seen it personally, every judge of this court and every other court in the state will have encountered it as well," WA Chief Justice Peter Quinlan told the ABC in a rare interview. While not one unified group, sovereign citizens use pseudo-law — a collection of legal-sounding concepts that have no basis in actual law — to target government institutions which they see as oppressive. In June, a WA judge sentenced two sovereign citizens to a month in jail for breaching court orders, believed to be the first sentence of its kind. Justice Quinlan said the group — which he characterised as a spectrum ranging from those who do not recognise the authority of the legal system, through to those getting conflicting messages on social media — was "one of the emerging challenges that the courts face". "As with any other institution of government, the courts depend for their function on trust and public confidence," he said. "People who you can broadly describe as sovereign citizens are people who, by definition, do not have that trust or confidence because they deny the legitimacy of the courts. More directly though, Justice Quinlan said those who did not believe in the authority of the courts often became "agitated or disruptive". "Judges are able to deal with people of all kinds, but it can't help but have an impact, particularly if there are actual threats, which there are from time-to-time," he said. "The impact on court staff can be very pronounced because they're at the coalface, they're on the registries, on the other end of the phones, they're in the court buildings with people. "It can have a very significant adverse impact on court staff having to deal with people who … can become very agitated by the fact that their view of what the law is does not accord with what the law actually is." But Justice Quinlan said many pseudo-law adherents were also harming themselves by maintaining their beliefs, despite having genuine legal claims or defences. "It's very difficult then for the courts to be able to identify where they do have legitimate claims or complaints or defences and to be able to deal with those claims on the merits," he said. "We do our best to get behind it, to find out what the real issues are, but it can be very difficult if a person is resistant to any kind of interaction or exchange with our current system." Premier Roger Cook also expressed his concerns about the growing group. "I think they represent a significant threat to both social cohesion in Western Australia and also the rule of law," he said. "The police do everything that they can to monitor those who think that they're above the law, that they have their own law to implement separate from the rest of the community. "We intervene when we see laws broken. We make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that they don't represent a risk to the community." Above policing and trying to support individual cases through the legal system, Justice Quinlan said institutions which sovereign citizens did not trust had a role to play too. "It's important that the institutions themselves respect one another, that the governments respect the courts, courts respect governments, and the different roles of different institutions within our society are properly understood," he said. "Because that level of trust and confidence which, if you like, the sovereign citizen does not have, really comes from the top down, that all of us are responsible for understanding and for supporting our institutions of government, be they the executive government, the parliaments or the courts." Justice Quinlan said while that was more under threat in other parts in the world, Australia was not immune. "In a world with a lot of social media content where ideas like this can disseminate very rapidly and very broadly, it's important for us to be vigilant about ensuring that our systems of government are understood and that we do have confidence in them," he said. "I still like to think that in Western Australia and in Australia more broadly there is good community understanding and acceptance of both the courts and the other arms of government. "But we can never be complacent about that, because we see in other parts of the world when respect for the rule of law breaks down, very quickly everything else breaks down as well. "So, remain confident but vigilant that these are challenges that our community faces." Western Australia's most senior judge also urged people to look at non-lawyers trying to offer legal advice with a critical eye. "If you are involved in legal proceedings or you're caught up in legal proceedings, go to a community legal centre, seek out some legal assistance," he said. "If something on the internet or on social media about dealing with the courts looks too good to be true, it probably is and it's probably not going to do you any help to be going down that route."
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Violence survivors who 'generously shared stories' hope to be heard in royal commission findings
What started as a fun night out with friends at the Adelaide Fringe left Amanda Brownlie traumatised and "frozen" in a state of shock. Warning: This story contains themes of sexual assault and domestic violence. Ms Brownlie was sexually assaulted by a stranger in March 2022. If you need help immediately call emergency services on 000. "As a woman in my forties, I had often thought about how I might react in such a situation," she wrote in her submission to South Australia's Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence. "I imagined I might fight or scream, but in that moment, I did nothing — I froze. "My body and mind did not respond in a way that I recognised or expected." In the immediate aftermath, Ms Brownlie said she was consumed by fear, and an overwhelming desire for closeness and normalcy — feelings she now recognises as natural trauma responses. Years have since passed, but the sexual violence survivor told ABC News she continues to experience the "lasting impacts" of trauma. "Initially, the impact was very much hypervigilance," she said. "It also had a longer-term impact in that I generally don't like going out much now at all. "My perpetrator was a stranger, so I don't know if and when I'm going to run into that person again." Ms Brownlie was one of more than 360 people who wrote submissions to the royal commission, which was called at the end of 2023 following the deaths of six South Australians from alleged family and domestic violence. Hundreds more people and organisations submitted survey responses, attended "listening sessions" or gave evidence across 10 days of public hearings. The state government is set to publicly release the royal commission findings this week. For victim-survivors like Ms Brownlie, the year-and-a-half-long inquiry presented an opportunity to share their experiences and to call for change. She recognised she was in "a position of privilege" with a good job and the ability to strongly advocate for herself. "The fact that I couldn't get any justice outcome made me so incredibly sad and angry for other victims that are going to go through that process," she said. Ms Brownlie's said a "complete overhaul" about how the legal and justice systems treated sexual violence victims was needed. While she described the police response following her assault as "excellent", Ms Brownlie said dealing with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) added "an entire new layer of trauma to what was already a traumatic experience". She said she was subjected to "victim-blaming" comments, and was asked to justify her "every move" and "every breath". She said more training for frontline workers was needed, to ensure their response to sexual violence was trauma-informed. "I was told (by DPP staff) that I was credible [but] not reliable because I was drunk," Ms Brownlie said. "I was told that I didn't push the perpetrator off me when I woke up, therefore he may have considered that to be consent. "It's in direct opposition to anything I've ever learned about consent." In a statement, a DPP spokesperson the agency made "substantial efforts to minimise trauma when dealing with sexual assault victims, including the provision of support from witness assistance officers, the use of trauma-informed practices, and the implementation of policies and guidelines". "The DPP will consider the final report of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence to the extent that its recommendations are likely to inform legal reforms and policy changes and will respond as necessary within its prosecutorial role," the spokesperson said. Like Ms Brownlie, domestic violence survivor Rabia Aftab said she hoped the royal commission would recommend broad-ranging changes to make it easier for victim-survivors to seek help. Ms Aftab, who is now at caseworker at domestic violence organisation The Zahra Foundation, said she used to feel scared and on edge on a daily basis, but when she first tried to ring SA's domestic violence crisis line for help, no-one answered her call. Earlier this month, SA's peak body for domestic violence services said one in five calls to the crisis line were going unanswered, despite a recent boost in government funding to address demand. "I look back and see how many gaps were there and how many times I came across things where I could (have) been in grave danger," Ms Aftab told ABC News. Ms Aftab not only wrote her own submission to the royal commission, but helped about 100 other women give evidence. She said while she found it "painful" to reflect on her own experience, she wanted to share her story in the hope it would help other victim-survivors. "I want to be that voice who can endure that pain and still talk about it," she said. "I feel if I don't talk about it then it's just that missed opportunity that no-one will talk about it, and then we will keep continuing as we are." Both Ms Brownlie and Ms Aftab said it was important for victim-survivors' voices to be reflected in the royal commission findings. "Victim-survivors have generously shared their stories and that is not an easy thing to do," Ms Brownlie said. "For it to be for nothing would be absolutely devastating. "Overall, I hope it shines a light on just how bad things have gotten and how poorly victim-survivors are being treated within the system. "I feel really hopeful that this is a real opportunity for generational change."
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Crime Stoppers warn of risk of vigilante reaction, other concerns on crimes posted to social media
Social media is littered with posts about crime. Facebook even has dedicated community-led groups for sharing information to warn others about local criminals. Perhaps you've joined one. But Australians are being urged to not only post about crime on social media, but to report it to authorities. Crime Stoppers Tasmania chair David Daniels said posting to social media provided a false sense of action. "Now that we're always online with our phones, it's easy to turn to social media to express our concern or warn others," Mr Daniels said. "But typing isn't telling, and if that information never reaches police, they cannot act. "So, while the social media may feel immediate and impactful, it does very little to help police track down the offenders or prevent crime or keep communities safe," he said. "The real action means sharing the information appropriately [to Crime Stoppers or local police]." Crime Stoppers is a not-for-profit registered charity, separate to police, that relies on donations to operate. It is based on a model that started in New Mexico in the United States in the 1970s when a detective ran out of all leads on a brutal murder case. The detective reportedly arranged for a local television station to show a re-enactment of the murder and invited viewers to call in with information anonymously and offered a cash reward if it led to an arrest. It started an anonymous 'tips line' that became Crime Stoppers and spread around the world. Often, alleged offenders are outed by the community "naming and shaming" them, but if that information is not passed on to authorities through official channels, police are usually unable to investigate. "We've had a man seen stealing tools from the rear of a work ute. Other people all post into a group who he is and where he can be found," Tasmania Police Commander Jo Stolp said. Recently, Tasmania Police have also seen social media posts about drug dealing near a park. "You've got people on camera from someone's CCTV coming and going, but without a report either to Crime Stoppers or to police, we can't follow that up," Commander Stolp said. There has also been unreported CCTV footage posted to social media showing a person stealing mail from someone's home, and someone claiming to have a picture of the suspect's face. "While it's good for people to know there is activity in their area, we like to be sure that it's actual activity, and that somebody is not necessarily being targeted unnecessarily," she said. Posting information about a crime to social media also carried its own risks, police said. Along with the possibility of spreading misinformation, posts could also incite vigilante responses. There was a chance the information or footage being shared was not really a crime at all, or could lead to the wrong person being identified as the culprit. Defamation lawyer Rowan Lyndon can attest to the impact of vigilante responses. Mr Lyndon said he was aware of at least one reported case, "where a person who was falsely identified online as a paedophile was physically assaulted". There was also the risk of legal action against people who make accusations online that turn out to be false or defamatory, he said. These can range from paying damages — sometimes amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars — to covering part of the claimant's legal costs, and even imprisonment. The 2024 Bondi Junction stabbings is one of the most recent cases to make national headlines. Within hours of the attack occurring, Benjamin Cohen was falsely named on social media as the assailant who killed six people at the shopping centre. Photos of Mr Cohen were taken from his social media accounts and circulated by other users along with his name. The unconfirmed reports were then broadcast by a media outlet. But while the information turned out to be false, by then the damage had been done. Mr Cohen later sued the broadcaster for defamation and received an out-of-court settlement. He also called on the NSW Police to prosecute the social media users who incorrectly identified him. Mr Daniels said in all of these cases, the "intent might be right, but the outcome isn't". To bring greater attention to this issue, Crime Stoppers has launched a nationwide campaign, Don't Just Post It, Report It! The campaign is urging people around Australia who see, hear or suspect criminal or suspicious behaviour to stop leaving vital information in group chats or social media threads, and start reporting it where it truly counts. People have the option of making an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers, directly contacting their local police station, or in an emergency, calling triple-0. "Crime Stoppers gives people a safe and anonymous way to speak up," Mr Daniels said. "You don't have to give your name or make any formal statement or even go to court. All we ask is that you share what you know, so it can be properly assessed and potentially linked to other reports and acted on by police.
