A JUDGE yesterday discharged a deadlocked jury after it failed to reach a verdict in the long-running drug-trafficking trial of a senior Victorian policeman.
Detective Senior Sergeant, Wayne Geoffrey Strawhorn, 49, the state's most experienced drug squad officer, will face trial for the third time in the Supreme Court on a date to be fixed. He is accused of organising drug deliveries to murdered underworld figure Mark Moran and the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Club.
It's pretty clear that the judge may have erred in his directions to the jury. Instead of the usual nonsense about rules of evidence and weight of testimonies and so on he should have said simply " Right out you go have a cup of tea, come back in say an hour- with a VERY FUCKING GUILTY verdict so I can send this clown down for 20 years. Hoo roo!"
It's also clear that when you start talking up knocking yer own, selling pseudoephedrine without recording the amounts sold and for how much and then having bundles of cash about the place, you are either (a) as bent as a banana or (b) simply watching The Shield. We'll go with part (a) thank you your worship.
Background:
The Speed Trap- Four Corners investigates
The BCs AM program report on 4 The Four Corners investigation
Melbourne Crime site reports
Former Detective on drug /threats to kill charges.