Commissioner of Police (NSW) v Gibson [2020] NSWSC 953 and Padraic Gibson (on behalf of the Dungay family) v Commissioner of Police (NSW Police Force) [2020] NSWCA 160
Application on behalf of First Nation families seeking to hold a Black Lives Matter rally. The case considered the interaction of the public health orders regime enacted in response to Covid with the right to conduct protests.
R v Lex Patrick Wotton
Carriage of the defence of Lex Patrick Wotton to charges of riot causing destruction arising from civil unrest on Palm Island following the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island in 2004. The case was high-profile and garnered international interest. The offence carried a sentence of life imprisonment and the case was a complex one; involving numerous proceedings in the criminal and civil courts of New South Wales and Queensland along with the Federal Court.
Coronial Inquest into the Death of Naomi Williams (2018 – 2019)
Junior Counsel representing the family of Naomi Williams, a leading case raising systemic discrimination in the health sector in New South Wales.
Coronial Inquest into the Death in Custody of David Dungay (ongoing)
Provision of research services to the National Justice Project, instructed by the family of David Dungay, a young Aboriginal man who died in Long Bay Prison Hospital.
Inquest into the Death in Custody of Perry
An Indigenous death in custody in which Craig worked with the Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Association (NAAJA). This case demonstrated the capacity for strategic litigation principles in the Coronial jurisdiction, with the NT Coroner noting the continuation of systemic causes from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. It also resulted in NT Police policies addressing the risks of positional / restraint asphyxia.
Inquest into the Death in Custody of Kwementyaye Briscoe
A death in custody inquest in which we provided research and advice to the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Service into the death in police custody of an Aboriginal man.
Ian Campbell & 4 Ors v Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) [2009] NSWSC 973 (22 September 2009).
Defence of five Aboriginal youths in Bermagui on summary charges of offence. This matter proceeded to the Court of Appeal at which time the Clients’ convictions were quashed and costs ordered against the Crown due to breaches of the LEPRA safeguards regarding the questioning of Aboriginal suspects. This case is still taught at University level as highlighting the importance of compliance with the obligations of LEPRA. It also clarified a mistaken proposition in law regarding when costs are available against police prosecutors.
