Trial move 'proves bias'

A SURVEY that showed an alleged Palm Island rioter could not get a fair trial in Townsville was proof of what all Aborigines already knew to be true, according to the island's mayor.

Erykah Kyle said yesterday Friday's decision by a Townsville District Court judge to transfer the man's trial ? based on a survey of 400 people that found only 5 per cent held a positive view about islanders ? was proof of racist views.

Queensland's acting chief judge Tony Skoien has ordered the trail of Patrick Lew Wotton be moved to Brisbane after an application for the relocation in the Townsville District Court.

Wotton is accused of rioting in the wake of the 2004 death in custody of Aboriginal man Mulrunji.

During the application, Wotton's Sydney-based lawyers tendered a survey that revealed the vast majority of those surveyed felt they could not return a verdict based simply on the facts of the case, even if directed to by the court.

The survey, by research house AEC Group, found nine in 10 Townsville residents knew of the riots in November 2004 but only 5 per cent held a positive attitude towards Aborigines from Palm Island.

An application by Wotton in February this year to transfer his trial from Townsville to Brisbane was rejected.

Cr Kyle said racism was something all Aborigines frequently experienced in some way or form in Townsville.

"We all have experienced that in some form in Townsville," she said.

"We experience (racism) wherever we go in Australia."

But Townsville Mayor Tony Mooney slammed the survey.

"I'm sick and tired of Townsville being whipped to death by southern blow-ins who don't have a clue about our city," he said.

"It's really rich for a Sydney firm to label Townsville racist when Sydney had full-scale riots in Redfern and Cronulla," he said.

"The bottom line is people in Townsville have been subjected to anti-social behaviour and abuse day in and day out and of course that will show through, especially in a narrow-focused survey."

Cr Kyle said most Aborigines in north Queensland had little faith in a jury judging them solely on the facts of a case.

"It is all ways a dilemma for the Aboriginal people in Townsville," she said. "And, no one is hearing our frustration about the situation as it currently stands."

However, Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said the move had more to do with the notoriety of the event, rather than the race of those charged.

"I've been a criminal defence lawyer since 1976, including four years with the Aboriginal Legal Service, but I've been involved in several applications for a change in venue not because my client was black and (couldn't) get a fair trial from a white jury," he said.

"In the cases I've been involved in, you ask for a change of venue because you feel that a particular offence that is being tried has so polarised opinions in the community that you're concerned you just simply cannot get a neutral jury."

Mr O'Gorman said although it was not common practice, trial relocation was a legitimate device for defendants, particularly from smaller communities.

"Sometimes (you) ask for a change of venue, not because your client is black, but because the jury pool from which the jury is to be drawn has so many people who have a view on it," he said.

Mr O'Gorman said there was no provision in Queensland law for prospective jurors to be interviewed by either the prosecution of defence, although each side had the right to challenge eight jurors in court.

"We have what I call a myth that many judges believe in ... that the judge saying to a jury 'cast aside everything that you've heard about this case' ... that therefore causes people to put out of their minds prejudicial thoughts," he said.

"That is an utter myth ? it doesn't work in practice."

Brisbane-based Australian Bar Association president Glenn Martin, SC, said he was not aware of any other similar case, but believed the decision would not set a precedent.

"I'm not aware of this happening before in Queensland," he said.

"A survey would be a piece of evidence for a judge to take into account before making a ruling," he said.

A total of 21 people, including Wotton, have been charged with rioting, looting and arson offences, in which the Palm Island police complex was burned down after Mulrunji's death.

It is unclear whether others charged over the riots will also try to have their cases heard elsewhere in Queensland.

Queensland Attorney-General Linda Lavarch has refused to comment.