Legal Assessment Task

Title of Article: Fatal fall while fleeing police was ‘murder’, family claim

Date and Source: February 12th, 2018 published by the Daily Telegraph in
Sydney, Australia.

Facts and Laws:

• The first cousin of Cathy Freeman, Patrick Fisher aged 31, fell to his death
from a 13 story Sydney balcony in Waterloo after being chased by a Police
officer who was attempting to arrest him.

• His angry family claims that he was “murdered” and wants justice for their
sons death

• On the 7th of February 2018, Red-fern police received a tip that Fisher,
who had warrants out for his arrest in relation to stealing and assault, was
inside a unit in George St.

• According to the article “The father-of-three allegedly raced out of the

window of his girlfriend’s apartment and attempted to escape via the
balcony but lost his footing and slipped, falling to the carpark below.”

Members of Legal System involved and role (including appropriate

court):

The police’s role was to launch a critical investigation into the death, however
Fisher’s family said they are unhappy that the police will be investigating other
fellow policeman and said their legal team would be doing their own
investigation. The investigation is still undergoing an independent review and
a report will be prepared for the coroner, whose role is to determine who the
deceased was and how, when and where they came by their death.

Demonstrate how the article demonstrates the rule of law and

procedural fairness:

By conducting their own investigation, using their own legal team, Fisher’s
family are being given access to a non-bias and fair case. If policemen were
allowed to investigate other fellow policeman there is risk of bias and
inequality, as they may want to protect their friends and therefor obstruct
natural justice. This clearly demonstrates how procedural fairness evident in
this case.

As for the rule of law, this is shown as the investigation will be subject to an
independent review, as well as a report to be prepared for the Coroner’s
viewing. This demonstrates the rule of law as it shows nobody is above the
law and that both parties will have to attend trial, to receive a fair outcome.

Outline some potential problems in achieving justice that may arise in

the article:

Fisher’s family may not receive adequate compensation for his death and the
policeman may not be given as harsh of a sentence as murder. This is
because Fisher has a number of previous convictions and he was “fleeing” the
police, which portrays him as guilty. These convictions may be brought up at
trial, which obstructs natural justice, as everyone has the right to not have
previous convictions or accusations to be brought up during trial. This ensures
that the only evidence relating to the current case is used to make a decision.
There has been no report of the policeman physically touching or assaulting
Fisher, which could result in Fisher’s family not receiving justice for their sons
death, as there has been no evidence of mens rea or actus reus. However,
the police department may feel pressured to fire the policeman involved, due
to the multiple protests and public pressure. This can negatively impact the
policeman’s life and result in unfair justice.