Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has applied to be freed from jail prior to any sentencing over the murder of elderly camper Carol Clay, and before a pending appeal against the conviction.
The 57-year old appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday where Justice Michael Croucher heard the convicted killer had been the victim of prison attacks during his six-week trial.
Lynn was last month found guilty of murdering Ms Clay, but not guilty of murdering her secret lover Russell Hill.
The court heard Lynn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC is in the process of compiling submissions calling on Justice Croucher to abort sentencing his client until an appeal over his conviction can be heard by the Court of Appeal.
Such an application for a stay of sentence under Section 309 of the Criminal Procedure Act has only been successfully argued once – before Justice Croucher himself seven years ago during the infamous Brett Whiteley art fraud case.
Mr Dann told the court he believed sentencing his client would be made difficult due to what he described as the ‘unsafe guilty verdict’ delivered by Lynn’s jury at trial.
The court heard Lynn had been placed in isolation within the Metropolitan Remand Prison for his own safety, but now fears he will be targeted by inmates at whatever prison he ultimately ends up in.
Greg Lynn has been targeted by inmates inside jail
Mr Dann said the problem had been compounded since the guilty verdict, as a number of media reports revealed evidence the jury was not shown.
‘It’s an extremely rare application to even make,’ Mr Dann said.
If granted, the ‘stay’ of sentence could allow Lynn to apply for bail while his appeal goes through the court.
Mr Dann said a successful appeal could result in Lynn being set free altogether, without a re-trial, due to doubts over whether he could obtain a fair trial because of the significant publicity surrounding the case and the murder conviction.
‘The chances of a fair re-trial are non-existent,’ Mr Dann said.
The experienced barrister said any jury pool would have been ‘polluted or poisoned’ by the ‘inadmissible evidence’ that has ‘flooded’ news sites over the weeks since the verdict was delivered.
The court heard Mr Dann believed his client had multiple reasons to push for an appeal over his verdict, including the ‘unfair’ way in which he claimed the Office of Public Prosecutions carried out the trial.
Greg Lynn allegedly had human excrement flung on him by another inmate
Barrister Dermot Dann, KC hopes to still see Lynn released from jai
Mr Dann claimed Prosecutor Daniel Porceddu had made between 20-25 blunders during the trial which broke well established laws of how criminal trials are to be run.
Mr Dann took aim at Justice Croucher for not discharging the jury despite the breaches of the rules.
Mr Dann further claimed the reasoning behind the verdict was in ‘grave doubt’ due to its not guilty finding on the death of Mr Hill.
The jury had heard Lynn had no motive for murdering Mr Hill, but was motivated to murder Ms Clay because she had witnessed Mr Hill’s murder.
‘We aren’t convinced beyond reasonable doubt of the verdict,’ Mr Dann said.
‘What path did the jury take to get to that verdict?’
Carol Clay and Russell Hill died after a run-in with Greg Lynn
Mr Dann said the jury likely made at least two decisions that led them to what he described as an ‘unsafe verdict’.
‘Given your honour’s directions and the different verdicts … you cannot sentence on the basis that Mr Lynn formed the intention to kill Ms Clay because she had witnessed some form of unlawful murder,’ he said.
‘Similarly you could not sentence on the basis that Mr Lynn formed the intention to kill Ms Clay because she witnessed the accidental death of Mr Hill, because that has never been put to Mr Lynn, it has never been argued by the Crown.’
Justice Croucher said he understood Mr Dann’s point on the verdict confusion.
‘You say because the jury’s verdict of not guilty in relation to Mr Hill, that (guilty verdict) falls away. I understand the point but it’s going to require a bit more discussion,’ he said.
While the matter is scheduled to return to court again for a presentence hearing in September, it is likely to return before then as Mr Dann works to secure an appeal date.
