Chamberlain Case Fairness
Essay: Assess the Fairness of the Chamberlain Trial.
On the 17th of August, 1980, Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from her campsite at Ayers Rock. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, claimed that a dingo had taken her. In order to assess the fairness of the Chamberlain Trial, we need to consider the role of the media, the nature of the evidence available at the trial and of the police investigation, the role of the jury, the role of the public prejudices and the findings of the Morling Royal Commission. All these factors led to the unfair sentence, it was only until the Morling Royal Commission established that the trial was unfair that the Chamberlain’s innocence was handed back to them.
To begin the role of the media on the Chamberlain …show more content…
This made the trial unfair as original evidence was also destroyed or altered. An example of this was Azaria’s jumpsuit which was found near two dingo dens. This was moved by Constable Frank Morris when he had found it. The prosecution in turn used this against Lindy Chamberlain by saying that she may have moved the jumpsuit to the dingoes’ dens after she had murdered Azaria. The results of the ‘foetal haemoglobin’ samples from the car were also destroyed by Joy Kuhl who claimed it was part of normal …show more content…
This was because much of the witness reports and evidence was not used in the Trial, as this put too much strain on the prosecution. The police claimed that the evidence was not used only because it was too ‘rusty’. An example would be Aidan’s testimony of the defence of his mother, which was claimed to be unreliable due to Aidan being too young and also because that he was related to Lindy. Another example of this was the park ranger’s report which stated that there have been many other cases of dingo attacks on children recently. This would have proved that Azaria being taken by a dingo was not that
On the 17th of August, 1980, Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from her campsite at Ayers Rock. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, claimed that a dingo had taken her. In order to assess the fairness of the Chamberlain Trial, we need to consider the role of the media, the nature of the evidence available at the trial and of the police investigation, the role of the jury, the role of the public prejudices and the findings of the Morling Royal Commission. All these factors led to the unfair sentence, it was only until the Morling Royal Commission established that the trial was unfair that the Chamberlain’s innocence was handed back to them.
To begin the role of the media on the Chamberlain …show more content…
This made the trial unfair as original evidence was also destroyed or altered. An example of this was Azaria’s jumpsuit which was found near two dingo dens. This was moved by Constable Frank Morris when he had found it. The prosecution in turn used this against Lindy Chamberlain by saying that she may have moved the jumpsuit to the dingoes’ dens after she had murdered Azaria. The results of the ‘foetal haemoglobin’ samples from the car were also destroyed by Joy Kuhl who claimed it was part of normal …show more content…
This was because much of the witness reports and evidence was not used in the Trial, as this put too much strain on the prosecution. The police claimed that the evidence was not used only because it was too ‘rusty’. An example would be Aidan’s testimony of the defence of his mother, which was claimed to be unreliable due to Aidan being too young and also because that he was related to Lindy. Another example of this was the park ranger’s report which stated that there have been many other cases of dingo attacks on children recently. This would have proved that Azaria being taken by a dingo was not that