CHAMBERLAIN “DINGO” Trial 1982

1. CHAMBERLAIN “DINGO” Trial 1982

2. Chamberlain Dingo trial • The type of trial: We are going to study a criminal trial • The charges: Lindy Chamberlain was accused for the murder of her ten week old daughter, AZARIA in august 17 1980. • The defendant: Lindy Chamberlain was convicted that it was a dingo which killed her baby.

3. The Prosecution The lawyer: Ian Barker • His main arguments: Lindy C left the campfire and took her baby to her car, obtained and used scissors to cut AZARIA’s throat, waited for AZARIA to die. Barker called Chamberlain's story about the dingo attack "a fanciful lie, calculated to conceal the truth. • His pieces of evidence: they found blood evidence of unknown origin found in the Chamberlains' car, the clothing evidence • The sentence : The Chamberlains were prosecuted and convicted for the murder of their 2 month old baby, with Lindy sentenced to life imprisonment and Michael Chamberlain convicted as an accessory to murder.

4. The Prosecution • The witnesses : Their main arguments and pieces of evidence : -Ayers Rock tourist Sally Lowe: Argument: she heard a baby cry--a cry that was suddenly cut off--and that the cry "definitely came from the tent. pieces of evidence: a pool of blood in the tent about 15 cm by 10 cm -Witness Amy Whittaker: She also described Lindy and Michael walking alone together into the the bush for "fifteen to twenty minutes Police Detective Sergeant John Lincoln gave evidence that he took photographs of large paw prints a few centimeters from Azaria's cot and found what was probably blood outside the tent. -Bernard Sims He had investigated about two dozen attacks by dogs on humans in his job as a London ondontologist. Ababy's head could not fit into the jaws of a dingo -James Cameron: a professor of forensic medicine, testified that Azaria was killed by "a cutting instrument across the neck

5. The Defence • The lawyer: John Phillips • His main arguments: Evidence that a dingo removed Azaria here is evidence before me of the presence of dingos that regularly' scavenge in the camp area

6. The Defence • The witnesses : Their mains arguments and pieces of evidence: • Lindy Chamberlain : She gave evidence that, in response to others hearing Azaria cry, she went to the tent. Half way to the tent she thought she saw a dingo emerging from the tent. • Ayers Rock tourist Sally Lowe : She described Lindy as being away from the barbecue only "six to ten minutes," a very short period in which to have committed the murder and temporarily disposed of the body, as the Crown claimed. • Judith West : Who was camped 30 m away, testified to hearing a dog's low, throaty growl coming from that direction.

7. The Defence • The witnesses : Their mains arguments and pieces of evidence: • Dr Andrew Scott: A scientific located blood on the wall of the tent. However he did not believe that it was human blood. • Les Harris, then President of the Dingo Foundation: He gave evidence that his opinion based on years of studying dingoes is that a dingo could have enveloped the head of a baby in its mouth and carried the weight of a baby over long distances. • Tourirst Max Whittacker: He claimed to have been called by the ranger Derek Roff to help him and the aboriginal tracker to follow dingo paw prints and scrape marks in the sand in a westerly direction

8. The Chronology of the case • August 17, 1980 : While Lindy and Michael Chamberlain are vacationing near Ayers Rock in Australia's Northern Territory, 10-week-old Azaria Chamberlain disappears from the family tent • December 15, 1980 : The first coroner's inquest into the death of Azaria opens before Denis Barritt. • December 14, 1981: A second coroner's inquest opens • September 13, 1982: The Chamberlain trial opens • October 29, 1982 : The Chamberlain case goes to the jury. The jury finds Lindy guilty of murder and Michael guilty of being an accessory after the fact. Lindy is sentenced to life at hard labor, while Michael's sentence is deferred. • February 7, 1986: Lindy Chamberlain is released from prison. The Northern Territory Government announces that there will be a new inquiry into Azaria's death. • May 8, 1986: A judicial inquiry into the Chamberlain case open • November 29, 1995: A third coroner's inquest- • December 13,1995: Coroner Lowndes concludes that the cause of Azaria's death "cannot be determined." • February 2012: After a series of dingo attacks on humans, a fourth coroner's inquest into the death of Azaria is opened and finds the cause of Azaria's death was "as a results of being attacked and taken by a dingo“ The possible/already given sentence: finally, Lindy was found not guilty.

9. The keywordsneeded - dingo = chiensauvage - throat= gorge - jaws of a dingo= mâchoire - paw prints= empreintes - to scavenge= fouille inquest/ inquiry : enquête coroner: médecinlégiste