David Eastman Succeeds in Bid to Have Judge Appointed to Hear Stay Application Disqualified”

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David Eastman Succeeds in Bid to Have Judge Appointed to Hear Stay Application Disqualified”

Networked Knowledge Media Reports Networked Knowledge David Eastman Homepage This page set up by Dr Robert N Moles On 10 June 2015 Mathew Doran of ABC News reported “David Eastman succeeds in bid to have judge appointed to hear stay application disqualified” A new judge will be appointed to hear the stay application in David Eastman's murder case, after the ACT Court of Appeal disqualified the current judge over a possible perception of bias. Mr Eastman was released from jail last year after serving nearly 20 years, over the 1989 killing of Australian Federal Police (AFP) Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester. It came after an inquiry found he did not get a fair trial. Before the matter of a retrial was dealt with Mr Eastman - who has always maintained his innocence - applied for a permanent stay of proceedings. Key to Mr Eastman's argument was the level of media coverage his case had attracted. He argued that would prevent him from getting a fair trial, and that the application would include material critical of the original prosecutor. Justice Anthony Whealy was appointed to hear both the stay application and any new trial over Mr Winchester's death. But Mr Eastman sought to have Justice Whealey disqualified from hearing his stay application, because he served as a judge on the New South Wales Supreme Court for more than a decade with the original prosecutor in the case, Michael Adams QC. Justice Whealy refused to step aside as the judge in the stay application. However, the ACT Court of Appeal has now agreed with Mr Eastman, with Justice Michael Wigney disqualifying Justice Whealey from hearing the stay application. No decision has been made on who will hear the retrial. The stay application is likely to be heard in July. .

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