Eastman Inquiry

On 3 September 2012 Acting Justice Marshall ordered an Inquiry into the conviction of David Harold Eastman for the murder of Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester. The Inquiry is to consider a wide range of terms of reference which were drafted by counsel for Mr Eastman, and – despite opposition from the Director – adopted in their entirety by Marshall, AJ. Those terms of reference include:

• whether or not Mr Eastman was fit to plead during his trial
• questions about the reliability of a Crown forensic witness
• alleged issues involving the ballistics evidence led by the Crown at trial
• whether there was an hypothesis consistent with innocence that organised crime murdered Assistant Commissioner Winchester
• the alleged veracity and reliability of a witness who gave evidence of Mr Eastman’s stated intention to kill Assistant Commissioner Winchester
• the alleged veracity and reliability of a witness who gave identification evidence
• alleged issues about the disclosure by the Crown of certain psychiatric reports relating to Mr Eastman
• alleged factual inaccuracies in the evidence led by the Crown at trial.

As a result of that order a Board was appointed, consisting of Acting Justice Duggan, previously of the South Australian Supreme Court. Acting Justice Duggan appointed Liesl Chapman SC as counsel assisting the Board, and Ms Chapman assembled a team of lawyers to assist her preparation. That team includes two junior counsel and one instructing solicitor.

The Director was given leave to appear at the Inquiry. Preparation for representation at such a wide ranging Inquiry poses a significant drain on the resources of the Office and to that end the Director was provided with additional funding by the Territory to prepare the Director’s representation. Experienced counsel Dr Peggy Dwyer has been briefed by the Director to appear on his behalf. A senior prosecutor coordinates the Director’s team within the office, managing two dedicated staff. All three internal staff work on the Inquiry full time.

Given the history of the Eastman litigation, which includes involvement by the Director in the inquest, trial, appeals and the 2005 Miles Inquiry, along with a number of applications for inquiries by Mr Eastman, a large number of documents have been generated over the course of the last 24 years since Assistant Commissioner Winchester’s murder. To accommodate the extra staff and documentation, additional office space has been organised.

The Director has been served with numerous subpoenas from the Board between February and June 2013 and has successfully met all deadlines set by the Board for production of documents. The Director has also provided a great deal of informal assistance to counsel assisting to aid her in navigating the vast amount of material involved.

Acting Justice Duggan has since resigned his commission and been replaced by Acting Justice Brian Martin.

A formal hearing of evidence will commence on 5 November 2013. It is unclear how long the Inquiry will hear evidence but it is anticipated that the hearings will spill into 2014 and continue for some months.