Date of Incident: 23-5-1994
Date of Conviction: 15-11-1995
Exoneration Date: 11-10-2006
Charge: Wilful murder
Conviction: Murder
Sentence: Life Imprisonment
Sentence Served: 11 years
Contributing Causes: Prosecution non disclosure
Compensation: Yes
Andrew Mallard spent twelve years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
Convicted of the murder of Pamela Lawrence in 1994, Mallard stood trial with no evidence against him other than alleged unsigned confessions and a videotaped 20 minute interview. The transcripts of the verbal interviews (which extended over 11 hours) were accepted as evidence by the trial judge, even though at the time of the trial a bill was already before the Western Australian Parliament rendering such unrecorded evidence inadmissible.
No forensic evidence linked Mallard with the murder. Expert tests, commissioned by the police and withheld from the jury and defence at the trial, also showed that the alleged murder weapon, a wrench could not have caused the type of wounds found on the victim. Searches by the police for a wrench which could have inflicted the injuries were unsuccessful. This information, as well as the altering of crucial witness statements was not disclosed to the defence or the jury.
