JURIES NEED CHANGING AFTER J.C VERDICT: MCGLADE

Legal Academic Doctor Hannah McGlade says the jury in the J.C Murder Trial was biased and had no Indigenous people chosen.

The Police Officer accused of killing J.C in Geraldton in 2019 was found not guilty on all charges on Friday, despite the prosecution claiming the officer acted “recklessly” during the armed stand-off that ultimately cost the 28-year-old Yamatji woman her life.

Doctor McGlade attended the trial at the Supreme Court in Perth and says she couldn’t believe the jury’s verdict despite the evidence.

I believe they did not take their Duty seriously enough and did not consider the the value of JC's life.

She was painted in a very bad way by the defense that was part of the tactic to justify the offices actions in

shooting her he shot her within 16 seconds of arriving on the scene.

He was the most Junior officer there. He did not consult with anybody else before he shot her he gave her about three seconds before his last command to her and there wasn't another officer who had drawn a gun there wasn't another officer who even armed the taser.

So I don't believe the jury properly considered the evidence.

The Police Officer maintains J.C raised a knife in his direction and he acted in self-defence when he fired his firearm.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson says he feels for both the Officer and J.C’s family saying at a press conference soon after the verdict was announced: “Is one of the most difficult chapters in the history between Aboriginal people in Western Australia and the W.A police force.”

Doctor McGlade claims the jury had a favorable bias towards a white police officer, over an Aboriginal person.

We have an issue around jury bias that we're not addressing where the victims are Aboriginal the perpetrator is white in this case. He's white and he's a police officer and we don't have Aboriginal people on the jury now.

I did think that it would take at least Monday that they would give this some, you know do care and attention and I was being optimistic. I guess they took less than three

hours, It's believed , and that is a very short amount of time to come back within acquittal of the charges in these particular circumstances.

But Doctor McGlade declined to declined to answer whether a similar problem would arise if the jury would be majority Indigenous.