| Summary |
"Max Stuart, a near full-blood Aborigine was wrongly convicted of murdering a nine-year-old girl at Ceduna, South Australia, in December, 1958. The only "evidence" against him was a typed confession, signed after he was interrogated by six police. Stuart said later the confession was forced out of him. On appeal the Australian High Court refused to receive evidence from Professor Ted Strehlow, an expert in Stuart's native Aranda language. Strehlow said Stuart's alleged confession was incompatible with his poor command of the English language. The Max Stuart case was a sensation in Australia, and the country's High Court said that it would not receive fresh evidence on appeal - even if it could exonerate Stuart. Sentenced to death, Stuart' was granted at least seven stays of execution until his sentence was commuted to a long term of imprisonment. He served 14 years in prison before his release on parole. In 2002, a film was released in Australia about Max Stuart's case of misjustice - Black and White." |