A Murder Without Motive by Martin McKenzie-Murray

Author:Martin McKenzie-Murray [McKenzie-Murray, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: TRU002000, BIO000000
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Published: 2016-01-26T23:00:00+00:00

FIVE

SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK

James Duggan’s trial began on 7 February 2006 in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. It had been repeatedly delayed — the result of procedural logjams and court refurbishments — and each postponement was an intolerable pain to the Ryles. Before each nominal commencement date, the Ryles marshalled their strength, only to slump into torpor when the trial was re-scheduled. Clench, release, repeat. They were mentally shackled to the rough logistics of justice.

The Crown Prosecutor was Gillian Braddock, a British ex-pat who had received her law degree at Cambridge. Four years after this trial, she would be promoted to sit as a judge on the Western Australia District Court. Braddock’s appointment as the Crown Prosecutor wasn’t easy — Duggan’s mother worked for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), so a barrister had to be found elsewhere to represent the state. ‘It was going to be done by the DPP,’ Marie tells me, ‘and then we got a letter or a phone call to say that it wasn’t being handled by them anymore because there was a conflict of interest. It was being handed over to the Commonwealth.’

Tom Percy QC led the defence. Percy is something of a personality in Perth, a criminal-defence lawyer who has long appeared on popular radio shows and as the singer-songwriter for Celtic folk group Gang of Three. He is a divisive figure, strutting and cocksure, and naturally reviled by innumerable families of murder victims. This is an unavoidable fate for a criminal-defence lawyer, but Percy aggravates passions by being so flamboyantly unapologetic. It is obvious to say that due process requires defence lawyers to test weak evidence and shoddy police work, as it is to observe that victims’ families will emotionally reject that duty. It is also obvious to say that the law’s interpretation must be sober, a necessary contrast to the aggrieved souls embroiled in it.

But, for many years, Percy has committed the unpardonable sin of hubris. Enraptured by his own talent, Percy in court engages in a performance that appears to confer great pleasure to its actor. If we respect his role — and we must — it might seem churlish or ignorant to question the manner in which he acquits it. But what grated the Ryles was how total his performance was. They were desperate to see him acknowledge the moral complexity of his job; they wanted to see him conduct his duty gravely, not colourfully. But this sentiment seems anathema to Percy. The law is the law, and he has a job to do. There’s no room for tender feelings. If he has to play the villain, so be it.

To the Ryles, he is a villain. ‘I think he thought he was in a drama, an actor playing a role,’ Marie told me. ‘Arrogant. And he’d bring in his entourage. All these dolly birds. They must have been law students, don’t get me wrong. But this one particular day, there were about four of them, and they all followed him in with their coffee and they sat down and court started.

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