worth remembering the evidence in the civil trial was to uphold a substantial truth defence to counter defamation proceedings that BRS initiated
bit different to a prosecution electing to pursue murder charges
agree but the most important part is not the standard but the fact other soldiers were wiling to testify against him. that makes them verifies very credible witnesses . this is a jury trial and these people will carry signicant weight
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Before the AFP charged him they would have sworn statements from witnesses they are going to call.
Members of the ADF that suddenly get cold feet will be simply subpoenaed to attend. And if they come up with a different story to those statements, they will be considered hostile, the statement presented and they will be cross examined.
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George Pell getting found guilty didn’t affect his level of support at all.
" Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person and a mining magnate,
recently stated she “doesn’t understand” the justification for spending over $300 million in taxpayer funds to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes by Ben Roberts-Smith. She is a vocal supporter of the accused former soldier."
Gina’s version of “please explain?”
Gina doesn’t understand money spent on prosecuting war crimes, only money spent defending them. She also doesn’t understand how that latter, righteous spend hasn’t resulted in the usual expected outcome on this occasion. Diddums, you succubus on the earth.
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How can anyone justify spending $300 million on this, if that is true ?
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How does Gina justify the billions in fuel subsidies she receives directly out of our pockets?
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I wouldn’t assume it’s true at all. But if it’s cost even a fraction of that it’s probably because some of Australia’s wealthiest people and prominent media and political muppets have gone in to bat for him and in so doing cost us all.
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Exactly, she has a foreign worker wipe her gargantuan arse with million dollar notes every day courtesy of the taxpayer and the future fund that could’ve been our children’s childrens.
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Maybe, but these investigators have spent 5 years on our dollar travelling around and looking for evidence. Guess that is only about $1 million each week, probably had a hundred investigators and lawyers on the job, or maybe it includes the incentives to get those who lagged on that criminal war hero bloke.
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Probably seems like small cheese when the US is currently breaking international law and committing blatant war crimes by the day, but we are not that country, and this bloke has so much smoke around him it can’t be ignored. Also, you’re taking Gina’s word?
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I wonder how much they’re going to rely on the star witness from the defamation trial. His credibility will absolutely be ruined in a criminal cross examination.
Gina just doesn’t understand why the $300 million isn’t given to her. After all she deserves it.
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I sat around many times listen to groups of Veterans talk about this when my Son was in Repat Hospital.
Most served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all of them have major health issues from their service. Views were mixed about the guilt of the Hero, some were in the school that all sorts of things happen in war and Ben Roberts-Smith is a convenient scapegoat. Others said that part of the ADF were all cowboys. All did agreed that he is a very different sort, narcissist, exhibitionist and many told stories of his eccentric behaviour. None ever saw him do anything criminal.
My views are absolutely clouded by where this saga started, basically those turds at the Age made it sensational and now it is a sad melodrama.
No doubt about that. But the question is why have so many rancid right wing uber wealthy types contributed so much to the melodrama? Why is big Ben their chosen poster boy? Let military and civil justice be served, if that’s possible
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you sound like a perfect fit to sit on an impartial jury
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Andrew Hastie isn’t supporting BRS
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She wont like this.
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Meeting the burden of proof on this one is going to be difficult not impossible but very difficult. Has to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt unlike the civil trial (balance of probabilities). The reliability of witnesses is going to be key. The offical ADF reports for the alleged incidents contemporaneously prepared at the time support BRS’s version of events (those offical ADF reports have never been challenged). Will be the most watched and followed criminal case/ trial in Australian history.
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Just setting up for the ‘culture wars’
Yes we all agree $300M is a lot of moolah. So let’s not do the right thing.
But as pointed out, she will likely be finding this guys defence team, with Stokes and some other creeps.
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