Like most unexpected and explosive arguments it took me a day or so to work out what it was actually about. Sending the police the proposal was a big mistake. I'd never mentioned to him that I had wanted to go and see Andrea. But after reading my proposal, in which I blatantly said I wanted something better than the system that he implements, he felt like I was trying to undermine him and it left him fuming. After reading the proposal, I think he thought that I was an idealistic little girl getting in the way of the big boys in their quest for a conviction. For the police, it's so hard for them to get a charge, let alone a conviction. And here I was, trying to get in the way of one of his scarce wins.
According to him I should be grateful that he's got her in court. He spoke to me as though I was an ungrateful child who should have thanked her lucky stars that this was at least going to court. He said my family hadn't even encountered any flaws, contrary to what I'd written in my proposal.
After the phone conversation I was upset and scared. I was completely full of fear and I wanted to give up. I felt anything I did could cause a mistrial. It seemed like a great risk. He told me her doing Restorative Justice was tantamount to admitting guilt.
Although he screamed at me, which is perhaps not the most effective way to get a message through, he did make one point loud and clear. In South Australia, seven in eight families never get their day in court. They never get to find out what really happened because there is no suitable charge. This is impossible to fathom. You can kill someone on the road, but in the eyes of the law, you haven’t done anything wrong (I mean other than killing someone, but apparently that’s not a major issue). I have a really open mind, the ability to see way outside the square, but I cannot comprehend how this can be.
Written on 11 Nov 2005
Over 7 years since incident
Tags:
police, arguments
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