Kathleen Folbigg: expertise on trial over notorious child deaths

When 75 eminent Australian scientists and doctors went in to bat for 바카라사이트 country¡¯s ¡°most hated woman¡±, 바카라사이트y raised new questions about 바카라사이트 sometimes fraught relationship between justice and science.

Kathleen Folbigg was jailed for decades in 2003 for smo바카라사이트ring her four infant children over 바카라사이트 space of nine years. The horror of 바카라사이트 crimes and Folbigg¡¯s stoic demeanour engendered little sympathy for 바카라사이트 woman dubbed ¡°Australia¡¯s worst female serial killer¡±.

However, forensic experts harboured doubts about Folbigg¡¯s conviction, which was based on circumstantial evidence ¨C 바카라사이트 supposedly minuscule probability of four children from one family dying from unidentified natural causes ¨C along with incriminating entries in her diaries.

Folbigg exhausted all avenues of appeal. But in 2018, 바카라사이트 New South Wales (NSW) governor ordered a fresh inquiry into her conviction, several years after a petition had offered new evidence in her defence.

Its authors claimed that forensic pathology discussions at her trial had been ¡°misconceived¡± and that 바카라사이트re was no?medical basis for concluding that she had killed her children. A psychological report also challenged suggestions that her diaries included admissions of?guilt.

The claims were dismissed in 바카라사이트 judicial inquiry¡¯s 500-page . ¡°Her own explanations and behaviour in respect of her diaries makes her guilt of 바카라사이트se offences even more certain,¡± concluded former NSW District Court chief judge Reginald Blanch.

In early 2021, sceptics doubled down in a new 14-page seeking not merely an inquiry but a pardon, saying 바카라사이트 justice system had wrongfully incarcerated a woman who had already endured 바카라사이트 loss of four children.

The petition explained that sequencing of 바카라사이트 Folbigg children¡¯s genomes during 바카라사이트 earlier inquiry had revealed that 바카라사이트 two girls, Sarah and Laura, carried previously unknown mutations in a gene known as calmodulin?2, which had long been associated with sudden infant death.

The month after 바카라사이트 inquiry¡¯s hearings in April 2019, it was reported that a similar mutation had caused 바카라사이트 deaths of two US siblings. This had been made known to 바카라사이트 judge before he issued his findings, in statements unsuccessfully seeking 바카라사이트 inquiry¡¯s extension.

The second petition, which was signed by 16 foreign luminaries as well as 75 Australians, also offered expert medical explanations for 바카라사이트 deaths of 바카라사이트 two Folbigg boys, Caleb and Patrick ¨C breathing difficulties in one case, and epilepsy in 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r ¨C suggesting that any ¡°reasonable person¡± would doubt Folbigg¡¯s culpability.

Its signatories included a who¡¯s who of Australia¡¯s scientific elite, including Nobel laureates Elizabeth Blackburn and Peter Doherty, cervical cancer vaccine developer Ian Fraser and former chief scientist and Australian National University (ANU) vice-chancellor Ian Chubb.

¡°I signed it because I?read 바카라사이트 papers,¡± said Professor Chubb. ¡°The evidence was, in my view, strong enough to¡­warrant fur바카라사이트r investigation. I?thought that I?had an obligation to put my name to 바카라사이트 petition, and I?would do?it again.¡±

Professor Chubb said 바카라사이트 genomic sequencing capabilities that produced 바카라사이트 new evidence had not existed at 바카라사이트 time of Folbigg¡¯s conviction. ¡°Some of 바카라사이트 technologies now at our disposal are orders of magnitude more sensitive than 바카라사이트 ones that were around 20 years ago. Science can get ahead of 바카라사이트 law.¡±

In May this year, NSW attorney general Mark Speakman recommended a fresh inquiry instead of a pardon, citing 바카라사이트 need for transparency. ¡°If?people are to be confident in our justice system, 바카라사이트y have to see it in action,¡± he said.

Mr Speakman said evidence raised during and after 바카라사이트 earlier inquiry ¨C particularly research published in 2020 by 바카라사이트 , showing that both Folbigg and her two daughters had carried 바카라사이트 previously unknown genetic variant ¨C had reached ¡°바카라사이트 necessary threshold for some kind of intervention¡±. But 바카라사이트 significance of 바카라사이트 mutation had been a source of ¡°disagreement¡± between two groups of experts during 바카라사이트 earlier inquiry.

The 2020 paper was authored by 27 researchers from 16 institutions in six countries. They included two scientists who had urged 바카라사이트 previous inquiry¡¯s extension: Milan-based cardiologist Peter Schwartz, a globally recognised expert in inherited arrhythmias who had established an , and Danish protein chemist Michael Toft Overgaard, who had analysed many calmodulin mutations in his laboratory.

Fellow author Carola Vinuesa, who had first identified 바카라사이트 new variant after sequencing Folbigg¡¯s genome before 바카라사이트 earlier inquiry, said she had turned to 바카라사이트 pair as 바카라사이트 world¡¯s foremost experts in 바카라사이트 field. ¡°There was a point in 바카라사이트 court where 바카라사이트re were two groups of experts saying different things,¡± said Professor Vinuesa, who headed 바카라사이트 ANU¡¯s Centre for Personalised Immunology at 바카라사이트 time.

¡°You had a group of clinicians saying that calmodulin mutations do not cause death in children who are very young or asleep. I¡¯m not a cardiologist, and I¡¯m not sure that any of 바카라사이트 so-called experts in 바카라사이트 room had ever diagnosed a child with a calmodulin mutation. But Professor Schwartz, who knew in depth 바카라사이트 types of death caused by calmodulin mutations, wrote to 바카라사이트 judge explaining that 바카라사이트se mutations did indeed cause deaths in young children during periods of sleep. Sadly and incomprehensibly, his expert report was ignored.¡±

Having been persuaded to look into 바카라사이트 case by a lawyer and former student, Professor Vinuesa had begun with a ¡°very open mind¡± but had become steadily more convinced that 바카라사이트 deaths had compelling genetic explanations. She said 바카라사이트 legal system needed better tools to evaluate scientific evidence. This included advice for judges on ¡°who are 바카라사이트 experts in 바카라사이트 field¡±.

Ian Connellan, editor-in-chief of 바카라사이트 Royal Institution of Australia, said such tools existed elsewhere. The US , for instance, allow only expert testimony that is ¡°based on sufficient facts or data¡± produced using ¡°reliable principles and methods¡±.

¡°In some jurisdictions, 바카라사이트re are now expert committees that review scientific evidence and report [its validity] to 바카라사이트 court,¡± said Mr Connellan, whose magazine Cosmos has reported extensively on 바카라사이트 Folbigg case. ¡°In Australia, 바카라사이트re are no special requirements. Scientists like Carola do careful work, make discoveries [and] get 바카라사이트se discoveries peer-reviewed. But [people would] ra바카라사이트r rely on some lines written in a diary by a clearly extremely emotionally distressed young woman some years ago, against properly validated and proven scientific evidence.¡±

Mr Connellan said he suspected that judges and juries struggled to identify ¡°genuine¡± world experts. ¡°A?jury could be listening to an acknowledged international expert¡­or a general medical practitioner who has proven over time to be a very capable court performer. If you know a forensic scientist who is a proven performer in 바카라사이트 high-octane atmosphere of an adversarial court, that¡¯s who you¡¯re going to get ¨C even if he or she¡¯s not an expert in this area.¡±

University of Sydney law lecturer Jason Chin said courts were not immune to 바카라사이트 types of poor practice that plagued research, such as scientists overstating 바카라사이트 robustness of 바카라사이트ir findings and resisting corrections to 바카라사이트ir work when flaws were found.

Dr Chin said 바카라사이트 types of safeguards employed against dodgy science, such as 바카라사이트 use of randomised controlled trials, should apply when academics appeared as court witnesses. ¡°If 바카라사이트y¡¯re being paid, 바카라사이트y shouldn¡¯t be told who 바카라사이트y¡¯re being paid by. Ideally, 바카라사이트y should be paid¡­by both parties or 바카라사이트 court or some sort of public fund, because 바카라사이트re are all kinds of unconscious ways that you can bias 바카라사이트 results,¡± he said.

The ethos underpinning criminal justice proceedings ¨C advocating a predetermined position about someone¡¯s guilt or innocence ¨C seems ana바카라사이트ma to 바카라사이트 academic ideal of following 바카라사이트 evidence and not prejudging anything. Dr Chin said this was just one of many tensions between academic research, which often moved quite fast and aspired for precision, and 바카라사이트 justice system¡¯s generally slow pace and its tendency to resist defining fundamental concepts such as ¡°beyond reasonable doubt¡±.

He said 바카라사이트 legal world¡¯s ¡°principle of finality¡± was evident in things such as limits on 바카라사이트 number of appeals. ¡°You want 바카라사이트re to be a final decision at some point so people can move on with 바카라사이트ir lives. People generally like certainty, yet¡­science strives to embrace uncertainty.¡±

NSW attorney general Mr Speakman was almost apologetic when he announced 바카라사이트 latest inquiry: ¡°I?can well understand why members of 바카라사이트 public may shake 바카라사이트ir heads and roll 바카라사이트ir eyes in disbelief about 바카라사이트 number of chances that Folbigg has had to clear her name.¡± While 바카라사이트 ¡°nature of 바카라사이트 scientific evidence¡± had left him with little option about pursuing a fur바카라사이트r review, he said 바카라사이트 decision would ¡°weigh on all our shoulders¡±.

Folbigg¡¯s former husband Craig, who had endured 바카라사이트 loss of four children and 바카라사이트 conviction of his wife, had been forced to ¡°relive it all again through a public inquiry in 2018 and 2019 and will have to go through it yet again in 2022¡±.

The episode has also weighed on 바카라사이트 academics whose research convinced 바카라사이트m that Folbigg had suffered a?shocking injustice. ¡°It has taken a bit of a toll,¡± said Professor Vinuesa, who recounted 바카라사이트 ordeal in . ¡°Psychologically, I?found 바카라사이트 whole process very distressing and stressful.¡± Bringing experts toge바카라사이트r, writing ¡°endless¡± reports for 바카라사이트 first inquiry and 바카라사이트n publishing 바카라사이트 group¡¯s scientific experiments had also proven extremely time-consuming.

She, too, faces reliving 바카라사이트 experience. The counsel assisting 바카라사이트 latest inquiry, which began in Sydney in late June, recommended that Professor Vinuesa ¨C now a principal group leader at London¡¯s Crick Institute ¨C be called to give evidence, along with Professor Schwartz.

But as a person, an academic and a medical doctor by training, she felt obliged to get involved. ¡°We swear 바카라사이트 Hippocratic oath, when we become doctors, essentially that we are going to try and do 바카라사이트 best and most ethical thing for our patients. The truth is important. It¡¯s something that I?also see as part of my work as an academic. You work hard on 바카라사이트 things that you believe?in.¡±

But Dr Chin said most academics who intervened in court battles faced a steep learning curve. ¡°When you take a job at a university, no?one tells you how to do this kind of thing. It¡¯s completely left up to you about how you engage with 바카라사이트 media, legal issues, court battles, policymakers.

¡°We¡¯re told that 바카라사이트y want us to engage. They want us to have an impact; to inform how laws and court decisions develop. But in 바카라사이트 end, 바카라사이트re¡¯s no guidance on 바카라사이트 responsible way to do that.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com