What the case entailed and the parties in the case
Caroline Byrne was born in 1975 and died in 1995 in Sydney. At the time of her demise, she was in love with Gordon Eric Wood who was working for a prosperous businessman. Her close workmates became anxious when she failed to go to work on June 7, 1995. She did not also see her psychiatrist that morning. Unfortunately, after the search had been initiated, her lifeless body was found at the bottom of a cliff in Sydney. The evidences that were brought forth linked her boyfriend to the last person she had seen with at the bay on June 6, 1995, afternoon. The evidences were given by an artist, John Doherty, and hotel owners, Craig and Melbourne. It was made knowing that Gordon was the only one living with Ms. Byrne at the time of her death. The inquest was held in a way to ascertain the most evident cause of Caroline’s death, and they concluded that Gordon Wood was responsible for throwing his girlfriend down the cliff. However, Gordon insisted that Caroline had committed suicide. The R v Gordon case attracted attention from the media, politicians and professional models. The deceased’s father asked for the truth to be found and the offenders to be punished. He even solicited assistance from a politician from New South Wales. The murder was committed in 1995, but the judgement was delivered only in 2008. The accused was found guilty and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. However, he appealed, and the lower court’s ruling was overturned in February 2012.
The courtroom, the judge and the accused in the case
The R v Gordon case was held in the New South Wales Supreme Court. The hearings were presided over by Judge Barr. The accused, Gordon Eric Wood, was the main suspect for Caroline Byrne’s murder confirmed by both the investigations and the inquests. Crown’s prosecution gave evidence and presented witnesses to link the accused to the murder of Caroline Byrne.
Facts, legal issues and the final decision of the court
The accused and the deceased began their relationship in 1991. At that time, Gordon Eric Wood was working as a gym instructor in Sydney. A few months later, Byrne expressed her dissatisfaction with her boyfriend’s living. She was not pleased by the fact that her boyfriend did not have a dream career. The dissatisfaction had led to their parting in 1991, but they resumed their relationship in November 1993. At that time, Gordon was working for the businessman Mr. Rivkin. Although the offender wanted them to get married in 1995, the deceased said that she had not been ready at that time. Around March 1995, the deceased confided in her manager that their relationship had not been working well. She informed the manager that the accused was associating with people who wanted to get rich quickly. She said that Gordon was becoming so angry, and she was living in fear because he had almost killed her previously. The evidence produced in court by the prosecution’s witnesses proved that the accused was obsessive, and their relationship had been strained. It was brought to the attention of the judge that a week before Caroline was found dead, she had been seen in the company of the accused at a city fitness centre. The prosecution also asserted that Gordon had been abusing Caroline in public. That previous week, the deceased was much frightened and crying in public, that attracted the attention of the others. On the day of her death, she was found accompanying the accused, a fact that the latter vehemently objected. An expert witness, Professor Cross, gave specialist opinion in the case. Expert witnesses help judges understand complex issues outside the field of law (Saks 291; Stygall 330).
The prosecution team argued that the accused could have committed the criminal offence to maintain his close links with his employer. Caroline believed that his boyfriend’s employer was not involved in legal business activities. The prosecution asserted that the accused killed Caroline when she was withdrawn from her friends and relatives. The final factor provided by the prosecution was that the offence was committed because the offender and the deceased had frequent domestic quarrels. The accused was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but he appealed the lower court’s ruling which was quashed and the appeal was upheld in 2012.
Effectiveness of the legal system
The deceased was found dead in 1995, but the court’s ruling was delivered in 2008. There was a delay at the start of the case which was marked by long investigations and two inquests. Justice was delayed for the victim’s family. It took long to initiate the case; that was a fact that led to the deceased’s father to seek for assistance from some politician. He hoped that the politician could help raise concerns to start the case immediately. The father felt that they were denied justice by delaying the legal proceedings (Greene 22).
Also, the accused was denied justice by delaying the case in which he was the applicant. The trial submissions took thirteen years to begin. During this time, the suspect was subjected to emotional torture associated with murder cases as they attract harsh punishments upon conviction. The delay of the case could be viewed to have had a negative impact on the victim’s family, the accused and the society (Greene 22).
Punishment and social inequality issues
Legal systems impose punishments on offenders for various reasons (Reichel 45). However, the main reason for punishing criminal offenders is to prevent them from committing a crime in the future (Chemerinsky 75). This can be achieved by various ways through which offenders are taught to be law abiding citizens. This can be done when the offenders are on parole or in prison. Social inequality issues have been cited to affect the outcome of legal suits in courts of law (Beck 680). Such incidents adversely change public perceptions on legal systems to deliver justice to all the people.
Works Cited
Beck, Ulrich. “Beyond class and nation: reframing social inequalities in a globalizing world1.” The British Journal of Sociology 58.4 (2007): 679-705. Print.
Chemerinsky, Erwin. Constitutional law, principles and policies (introduction to law series). New York: Aspen Publishers, 2006. Print.
Greene, J. Thomas. “Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice.” Judges J. 40.1 (2001): 22. Print.
Reichel, Philip L. Comparative criminal justice systems: A topical approach. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.
Saks, Michael J. “Expert witnesses, nonexpert witnesses, and nonwitness experts.” Law and Human Behavior 14.4 (1990): 291. Print.
Stygall, Gail. “A different class of witnesses: Experts in the courtroom.” Discourse Studies 3.3 (2001): 327-349. Print.