It is difficult enough for innocent men and boys who are forced to defend against rape lies. It is nearly impossible for them when the government deprives them of a fair trial by hiding evidence that could prove their innocence. The following news story is a very troubling case that speaks for itself.
Police accused of hiding evidence in rape case
OFFICERS from the Australian Federal Police allegedly stole and concealed documents that could have helped a former pilot and businessman fight allegations he had raped a 14-year-old girl in PNG.
Fred Martens, a millionaire working in Papua New Guinea, served more than 2½ years in prison after being convicted under Australian child sex tourism laws. But after his family found some of the missing documents he earned a rare second appeal in November 2009 and had his conviction quashed.
In two multimillion-dollar compensation claims Mr Martens, 62, is now suing the Australian and PNG governments, and members of the AFP and PNG police, over their alleged misconduct. The claims allege his false prosecution led to the failure of his businesses and the loss of PNG assets - including 11 boats, six planes and dozens of construction and earth-moving vehicles.
This is the latest in a series of embarrassing cases involving the AFP, which last month settled a claim with the Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef. Former Guantanamo detainee Mamdouh Habib has also received compensation from the federal government, while actor Paul Hogan is considering suing the government over its failed prosecution of him on tax matters.
Mr Martens accuses an AFP agent of perjury, trying to cover up problems with the investigation, perverting the course of justice and malicious prosecution. The officer had tried to ''amass evidence to bolster a case against [Mr Martens] regardless of its truth or falsity'', ''deliberately ignored obvious inconsistencies'' in the girl's statements, and agreed with PNG officers to conceal various documents, the damages claim says.
The girl, who cannot be named, said Mr Martens had twice - in March and mid-September 2001 - flown her from her home in Western Province to the capital, Port Moresby, where she applied for a passport and visa to attend school in Australia. She said during the second trip she stayed at his home, where she was assaulted. But Mr Martens insisted he had only flown her to Port Moresby once, in August 2001, and that they had stayed in separate rooms at the home of his friend. He also denies he ever assaulted her.
Soon after his arrest in August 2004 he had asked investigating AFP agents to obtain various records and documents about his flights and her passport application, which he said would prove the girl's statement was wrong.
But many of these documents, which could prove the flight was in August, were never produced at his trial. He was convicted and lost an appeal, but was later granted a second review.
The missing records that formed the centre of the case, and compensation claim, are:
The girl's certified passport application.
Plane refuelling records.
Civil aviation flight invoices.
Australian immigration records of his movements.
The AFP officer stated in an affidavit that the girl's passport application could not be produced because it had been stolen from the PNG immigration office. But a PNG police officer later swore two AFP officers had removed the application, months before Mr Martens was charged.
A statement from a doctor who certified the photos taken for the girl's passport application, confirming when she was in Port Moresby, was also never produced in court, according to his PNG compensation claim.
PNG police said they had inquired about refuelling records, but they approached the wrong fuel company in the wrong town and no records were provided, the compensation claim alleges.
The AFP officer swore PNG's Civil Aviation Authority had advised it had not kept records of the flight. But Mr Martens's partner later obtained records of the plane's take-offs, movements and landings over the counter from the authority.
In the appeal judgment, the court found it reflected poorly on the AFP that it had failed to find the flight records. ''Had [they] been put into evidence at the trial it would not have been open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt the petitioner was guilty.''
The AFP officer also said that Australian immigration files showed Mr Martens was in PNG at the time of both alleged flights, attaching a typed version of Australian records. But Mr Martens later obtained the full records under Australian freedom-of-information laws showing he was in Australia at the time of the alleged first flight and near the Indonesian border at the time of the alleged rape in September.
The Australian damages claim also says a complaint by his family to the AFP's standards and ethics unit was investigated by one of the agents who had been seconded to PNG for the original investigation. The complaint was dismissed.
In a brief response to the Australian claim, the Australian government and one AFP agent argue his claim was ''irregular'', had been laid under the wrong law and in the wrong court. An application to have the claim thrown out of court is to be heard in Cairns in mid-February.
TIMELINE
Mid-September 2001: alleged rape in PNG
August 2004: Martens charged in Australia
October 2006: sentenced to minimum 3 years' jail
April 2007: appeal dismissed
November 2007: another girl withdraws allegations
September 2008: government rejects application for a pardon
March 2009: Federal Court orders government to reconsider application
April 2009: government refers case to the Qld Court of Appeal
November 2009: conviction quashed
November 2010: Australian compensation claim lodged
January 2011: PNG compensation claim lodged
Link: http://www.smh.com.au/national/police-accused-of-hiding-evidence-in-rape-case-20110130-1a9py.html?from=smh_sb
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11 comments:
Happens all the time.
The system is out to get convictions,nothing else.
I recall the case of "guilty while sleeping."
A man was convicted of rape, even though he was in a public area on campus and was on video tape sleeping during the time of the alleged offense.(USSA)
What happens if one refuses to acknowledge the court's authority - ie enter no plea, sign no court document and make no answer to any questions, the only statement being that you don't recognize the court?
I expect the court reserves to itself severe powers in dealing with such a challenge, but getting jailed as a political prisoner may well be preferable to being jailed as a rapist.
I hate these things. I know a few AFP members, and my grandpa was a policeman.
Australia is already rife with cop-bashing - usually only figuratively, but sometimes literally as well.
These cases only make it worse.
Sonja, I suspect that women tend to have more favorable views towards police than men do. Partly, this is because women are less likely than men to be subjected to police harassment, brutality or dubious charges and the like. Women are perhaps more inclined to look on police as protectors. And women are more naturally attracted to men who are seen as alphas, or in a position of status or authority.
A little while ago, at my local pub that I frequented regularly, a few police would come by on busy nights to look out for drink drivers and sometimes stop and chat to the publican and a few customers. The publican told me about how some girls would be so fawning towards some of the cops, treating them like heroes, and were keenly interested in everything they were doing. I have never known men who love cops that much!
Police forces do tend to attract their share of Neanderthal males, who look upon most other men as competition for status, women, power etc., and will often adopt a faux chivalrous posture as protectors of women and punishers of bad men, probably in the belief that this will help them to score more booty, if you get my drift.
Dear First Poster,
Could you please provide a link to the case that you described as "guilty while sleeping"? I was unsuccessful searching for it, and would certainly like to review the case myself.
Was it Elvis Costello who sang Watchin' The Detectives?
It seems current television viewing is besotted with crime and police shows, and has been for decades now. #1 fans being female.
It also seems the more the police circumvent Constitutional rights to attain "justice" the more they are applauded.
To think it all started with a kiss.....
Stillwater / Worker guilty of sex with inmate
Pioneer Press
Updated: 01/19/2011 10:59:44 PM CST
A Stillwater state prison employee has been convicted for having a sexual relationship with an inmate.
D'Ann Marie Haugen, 48, was sentenced in Washington County District Court earlier this month to 240 hours of community service and two years of probation. She was also ordered to register as a predatory offender and to complete treatment.
Haugen was charged in April with one count of criminal sexual conduct by a correctional employee after prison staff reportedly saw her kissing a 37-year-old inmate, according to a criminal complaint.
Haugen told investigators she and the inmate worked together in the kitchen, where she was assistant food director. They became friendly and eventually kissed. The inmate said the relationship was mutual, the complaint said.
Haugen is no longer an employee of CWF Solutions, the company that contracted her services to the prison, according to company officials.
@Anon 3:44:
Refusing to acknowledge the court would, I suspect, have you end up in jail on contempt of court. There is no definite end to such a charge, and they can basically hold you in jail forever.
At least, in the US. Not sure about Australia, but I wouldn't expect much difference.
Sonja Newcombe – ”These cases only make it worse.”
Nick S - ”Police forces do tend to attract their share of Neanderthal males…”
While it’s all too true that police work does attract some “bad elements”, this seems a bit more like a case of some very deliberative rogues more than some low-brow thugs-hiding-behind-a-badge. Consider this from the article:
”The AFP officer stated in an affidavit that the girl's passport application could not be produced because it had been stolen from the PNG immigration office. But a PNG police officer later swore two AFP officers had removed the application, months before Mr Martens was charged.The AFP officer stated in an affidavit that the girl's passport application could not be produced because it had been stolen from the PNG immigration office. But a PNG police officer later swore two AFP officers had removed the application, months before Mr Martens was charged.”
So, Federal Police removing a key piece of evidence well before Martens was charged? Sounds more like a very systematic “set up” rather than just hiding evidence to try to build a case.
Hate to come off sounding all “conspiratorial”, but given Martens wealth, could this be something orchestrated against him for other reasons?
As an outsider, looking in, I’m assuming that the Australian Federal Police would be something akin to our FBI? If so, why would two agents show up a passport office to remove someone’s application materials, if not as a part of some other nefarious effort?
Sounds as if there might be a good movie script buried in this sad affair.
It is barbaric, and a "perversion of the course of justice", that in the new culture of false rape accusations America is currentlu engulfed in; that even if a girl has falsely accused 4 men in the past, it is irrelevant and inadmissible in court, to her current false rape accusation.
Excellent. I have boomark this link to my programmers for their reference..
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