Doctor Death's Last Ace Up The Sleeve
July 15th 2008 23:18
There are alot of people in northern Queensland breathing a little easier today, as it looks like years of struggle to bring someone who has killed and maimed within their community is finally being brought to justice. Reports out of the US say that the so-called Dr Death, Jayant Patel, will be extradited back to the state within the week to face a Queensland court and answer for over a dozen charges of fraud, grevious bodily harm and manslaughter relating to his time as a surgeon at Bundaberg Base Hospital. Patel’s butchering take on the art of medicine left a trail of destruction that cannot even be measured accurately. After all, doctor’s bury their mistakes.
But people aren’t just breathing a little easier up in Bundaberg. They are also breathing easier in Bligh Government HQ. Bringing Patel to justice would mean the end of a scandal that almost cost them their reelection under Beattie, and give some welcome good news to crow about in the media. The name of Jayant Patel resonates across the state and to have him walk off a plane in handcuffs would be a great media coup for the State Government, finally making good on a promise the previous incarnation of the Labor Government made to victims.
There is a problem though, and this is one that may be lost amongst the chaos of Patel’s return. We all remember Dennis Ferguson? Notorious pedophile, allowed to walk free because the media storm surrounding him was so much that a judge ruled he would never get a fair trial in Queensland. So, if that’s the way the legal system operates, how the hell is Jayant Patel going to be able to get a ‘fair trial’? I’ll admit, alot of people know who Dennis Ferguson is in the state, moreso now with the firestorm over his release. But I will hazzard a guess that more people in Queensland know who Patel is than knew who Ferguson was. They will find it a struggle, if not impossible, to find twelve jurors who don’t know who he is or don’t have a preconceived opinion on what should happen to him.
So we are bringing Patel back but it’s been so long now that we have been hunting him down that it is kind of like a dog chasing a car: the dog will chase and chase cars but once he finally catches one he won’t have a clue what to do with it. How will we put Patel on trial? Will we have to petition another state to hold his trial, where they may be less likely to have heard of his case? One thing is certain, and that is that it is of vital importance that the victims of Dr Patel get justice like they were promised years ago. It’s not their fault that the media have largely ignored subjudice or actively worked around it to chase the Patel story halfway across the globe. They shouldn’t have to suffer the sight of Patel walking free on a technicality.
When it comes down to it, Patel is as guilty as they come. He was negligent, he killed people, he maimed them and then he ran. Many of the people who have heard the story have the same opinion. But, in saying that, they’d never put me on a jury because it just wouldn’t be fair.
Just like it wouldn’t be fair to let a killer walk free.
But people aren’t just breathing a little easier up in Bundaberg. They are also breathing easier in Bligh Government HQ. Bringing Patel to justice would mean the end of a scandal that almost cost them their reelection under Beattie, and give some welcome good news to crow about in the media. The name of Jayant Patel resonates across the state and to have him walk off a plane in handcuffs would be a great media coup for the State Government, finally making good on a promise the previous incarnation of the Labor Government made to victims.
There is a problem though, and this is one that may be lost amongst the chaos of Patel’s return. We all remember Dennis Ferguson? Notorious pedophile, allowed to walk free because the media storm surrounding him was so much that a judge ruled he would never get a fair trial in Queensland. So, if that’s the way the legal system operates, how the hell is Jayant Patel going to be able to get a ‘fair trial’? I’ll admit, alot of people know who Dennis Ferguson is in the state, moreso now with the firestorm over his release. But I will hazzard a guess that more people in Queensland know who Patel is than knew who Ferguson was. They will find it a struggle, if not impossible, to find twelve jurors who don’t know who he is or don’t have a preconceived opinion on what should happen to him.
So we are bringing Patel back but it’s been so long now that we have been hunting him down that it is kind of like a dog chasing a car: the dog will chase and chase cars but once he finally catches one he won’t have a clue what to do with it. How will we put Patel on trial? Will we have to petition another state to hold his trial, where they may be less likely to have heard of his case? One thing is certain, and that is that it is of vital importance that the victims of Dr Patel get justice like they were promised years ago. It’s not their fault that the media have largely ignored subjudice or actively worked around it to chase the Patel story halfway across the globe. They shouldn’t have to suffer the sight of Patel walking free on a technicality.
When it comes down to it, Patel is as guilty as they come. He was negligent, he killed people, he maimed them and then he ran. Many of the people who have heard the story have the same opinion. But, in saying that, they’d never put me on a jury because it just wouldn’t be fair.
Just like it wouldn’t be fair to let a killer walk free.
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