Andrew Boe - Counsel for Palm Islanders : " most likely explanation for such an injury is that a knee, elbow or closed fist was used with considerable deliberate force by Hurley, while Doomadgee was lying helpless on the ground ".

Anecdotal summation: " to prosecute under these grounds would involve the word of an Indegene Roy Brammel, against a Qld Policeman - that sort of justice hasn't been available in Qld in 200 years ".

" Cant help wondering if a drunken white man could be arrested and held in custody under similar circumstances ? "

"Cant believe Qld has stayed in the same rut that Bjelke Petersen carved in the judicial system, so long ago ?"

" Hurley's testimony is hog-wash. He took the Police Oath, the Court's Oath, and my oath, he can't lie straight in bed if he tried ? "

Commissioner Atkinson, Judy Spence and the Police Union Hierachy fully supported Hurley's reinstatement, albeit ' desk duties ' despite Christine Clement's Coronial Inquiry findings "

On Leanne Clare: " the lady doth protest too much, me thinks "

" The first thing we do, let's kill all the Lawyers ( King Henry VI )"

Last, but not least : James Brown- rock-n-roller. Undisputed King of Soul ( bless him ) " say it out LOUD - I'm BLACK and I'm PROUD ". Yet another : " we'd rather DIE on our feet, than be LIVING on our knees "

Amen, amen, amen.

This is what I always say when describing why I fight for human rights.

"Do we teach our children to stand up and be hard done by or to cower over and be hard done by"?.

Or do we teach our children to fight.

I know which ones I would choose when left with no other choice.

Dalma

do you really want to quote James Brown as a black icon?

"Last, but not least : James Brown- rock-n-roller. Undisputed King of Soul ( bless him ) " say it out LOUD - I'm BLACK and I'm PROUD ". Yet another : " we'd rather DIE on our feet, than be LIVING on our knees "

i.e.

(from: http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?floc=DC-headline&sc=1403&idq=/ff/story/0001/20061225/1336471535.htm )

By the eighth grade in 1949, Brown had served 3 1/2 years in Alto Reform School near Toccoa, Ga., for breaking into cars.

"he was plagued with charges of abusing drugs and alcohol and of hitting his third wife, Adrienne"

"In September 1988, Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, entered an insurance seminar next to his Augusta office. Police said he asked seminar participants if they were using his private restroom. Police chased Brown for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.

Brown received a six-year prison sentence. He spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work release program before being paroled in February 1991."

"Brown is survived by AT LEAST four children - two daughters and sons Daryl and James Brown III,"

(you mean this guy screwed around enough so he didn't know how many children he had)..

also

"James Brown was charged with spousal abuse at least three times during their 10-year marriage, but those charges were dropped. Adrienne Brown met Kay Mixon after a beating she received on Halloween night in 1995. Those charges were dropped when Adrienne Brown died January 6, 1996."

see: http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1706/

Lets hope the men of Palm Island aspire to more than this.

I am extremely angry that any of the hundreds of deaths in police custody may be used as a tool to incite political division among the peoples. The "silly" QLD DPP is not judge and jury, and certainly wont be the last word on this important National reach for our equal rights. It is no secret that Beattie' s Labor government set the stage for what happened on Palm Island by ignoring important parts of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Any attempt by Labor now to explain away its failure to act on all of the identified concerns in the 1991 Royal Commission, and in response to those other deaths which can be attributed to racist interpretations of given situations. Simply draws attention to the contempt Labor has for the proper conduct of representative government, which is political interference by any other name!
“Joh “Beattie has a dam hide to do anything other than hang his head on National Television. We the peoples need to seek civil relief against QLD police officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley and his employer for the wrongful death of Mulrunji Doomadgee in Police custody on Palm Island? And through that action publicly question the intransigence of governments which have only played lip service to the peoples entitlement to equal rights.

From:

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/madrid/issue1.html

"Aboriginal people in custody do not die at a greater rate than non-Aboriginal people in custody. However, what is overwhelmingly different is the rate at which Aboriginal people come into custody, compared with the rate of the general community.

"In other words, Indigenous people died in custody in great numbers because there were in custody in great numbers. The recommendations of the report focused on the necessity to reduce Indigenous over-representation at every stage of the criminal justice system if deaths in custody were to be prevented."

and

"A focus on the criminal justice system alone, however, was not going to change the overall life circumstances which drew Indigenous people into the criminal justice system’s web"

There are two ways of lessening the representation of indigenous people in the criminal justice system:

One way is to adopt the "William Golding" (Beelzebub - yeah, check the references) approach, otherwise known as Hobbesian: Leviathan 13:19 and let people live exactly as they want to live, without limits. (the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.)

I'll let others work out the other way.

Someone else will I am sure attack me about this, of course.

It is my belief that this case is well past the point where there can be a just and generally accepted outcome. The waters have now been sufficiently muddied to the point where a fair trial of Hurley would be impossible, and I believe that this is NOT an accidental outcome.

Our Criminal Law like our Tax Law has grown extremely complicated and, while the intent of our Criminal Law is to administer justice without fear or favor, if you have the money, contacts and knowledge of the systems and the letter of the law, you can greatly influence the outcome.

I agree with Keith that it would appear a deal has been done and that the planned outcome is on track, even though there will need to be a few more sideshows to keep the water muddy and the rumblings of discontent under control until they eventually die down.

It is often said that perception is reality and in this case the perception of the vast majority is that the outcome is unjust, but on past history that perception will be managed rather than heeded. While the Mulrunji Doomadgee case is now past the point of a just solution, the whole process should be ringing alarm bells as to just how open or justice system is to behind the scenes influence and manipulation.

The challenge for all of us who are disgusted by this outcome is to find a way to bring our system of justice closer to delivering the intent of the law rather than the letter of the law