We're Still Dying At Their Hands

We can say it's progressing. It's progressing favorably for Kevin, but due to the very slow nature of the way government works, we can't reveal anything too much at this stage, but we hope to be able to in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, there are plenty of pressing issues relating to the overincarceration of Aboriginal Andentura Strait Islander people in Australia, Debt's in custody, and also the issue of false confessions and police behavior in Australia that we want

to address. To start this episode, I want to begin on a somber note. As many people will probably be aware, Andrew Mark Mallard was wrongly accused and convicted of a murder in Western Australia in nineteen ninety five. It took his friends, family and supporters nearly twelve years to have his conviction overturned. The police had, through a great deal of misconduct, tampering with evidence and many other things would later be revealed, found a way to make Andrew the

prime suspect and put him on trial. Andrew was convicted and was detained in maximum security prison for those twelve years, But in two thousand and six his conviction was quashed by the High Court and compensation was paid to him by the state government. But even after all that, the Police Force of Western Australia still claimed that Andrew Mallard

was the prime suspect. This was proven absurd when a full review was conducted into what happened that night when the murder took place, and unsurprisingly what was uncovered was that there was compelling evidence that an already convicted murderer, Simon Roachford, had actually carried out the murder that Andrew Mallard had wrongly been convicted of. How many times have we heard of people who have already committed murders getting off scot free because the police target the wrong people.

In Andrew's case, he'd had a difficult life. He'd suffered mental illness that he'd spent a long time trying to overcome. To improve his lot in life, he sought therapy to gain confidence, to study and to find a place to live. But due to his circumstances due to his mental illness,

due to his periods of homelessness. He was targeted by the police, and although Andrew was to be found that he'd been wrongly convicted, no amount of compensation, no amount of the quashing of that wrong conviction, could ever bring back the twelve years he lost, or the heartache and mental turmoil he suffered spending all those years in prison, convicted for a crime he didn't commit. Thankfully, Andrew was

able to move on with his life. He successfully completed a university degree and he moved to London in the UK. He simply found living in Australia too difficult. Even more happiness would come for Andrew when he was engaged to be married, and often traveled to Los Angeles in California to visit his fiance where she lived. Less than two weeks ago, Andrew was sadly fatally struck by a car while trying to cross the road in Hollywood. The person

didn't stop and Andrew was killed. We want to send our deepest condolences to Andrew's family, to all his loved ones, his friends and those who supported him in friend bring himself from prison and clearing his name. It's a tragic end to a tragic story that never had to be that way if the police in Western Australia didn't convict the wrong man of a crime he did not commit. Again, it's a story we continue to hear all too often.

One of the reasons we hear this story and we've brought it to you on Curtain has happened to Kevin Henry is the use of aggressive and I would say

immoral techniques by police to obtain false confessions. Three years ago on this podcast, you heard about what is called the read technique, a technique developed in the United States and used by the United States Police Force across all their states and federal jurisdictions that seeks to get not just innocent people to confess to crimes they didn't commit.

It so often has innocent people confessing to crimes they knew nothing about, crimes that never took place, and people imprisoned for life on information that was extracted under duress during this interview process, known as the reed technique. So flawed is this technique that leaked documents discovered in the Library of Congress in the United States in twenty thirteen showed that the FBI, the Federal Bureau of investigation no longer advised their serving members to utilize the technique, as

it too often led to false confessions. But that doesn't stop the police force across America from us using the technique, and as we've pointed out, many people have falsely confessed to crimes they didn't commit because of it. It's highly aggressive, it is highly manipulative, and it's an immoral way to extract a confession from an innocent person. As we've also pointed out in the podcast, elements of this technique were clearly used by the Queensland Police against Kevin Henry and

remain in use by police officers right around Australia. Now this evening on ABCTV Four Corners ran a program on the Reed technique. Sadly for all Australians whose tax dollars go to fund the ABC and put on programs like four Corners, the investigation into the use of the Reed technique focused on the United States. That's despite three years ago here on the Curtain podcast you hearing how that technique is used, especially against vulnerable people and even more

so against Aboriginal people like Kevin Henry. Why wasn't the ABC and four Corners using their resources that we all provide to expose the use of this technique by Australian police, and to expose the number of false confessions that have been elicited in this country, and to expose the number of innocent people, including children, who are currently detained in Australia, who have previously been detained wrongfully in Australia, like Andrew Mallard,

who spent twelve years of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Kevin Henry, who spent twenty eight years in prison for a crime we all know he did not commit. So flawed is the red technique that the very man John Reid who founded it, became famous after extracting a confession in nineteen fifty five. This confession in a very high profile case, made his technique so popular that it was adopted by United States law

enforcement and around the world. There's just one problem with that, That very first confession he extracted was later determined to be a false confession. Another man finally confessed to the crime, and the original person convicted of the crime was paid compensation of half a million dollars by the State of Nebraska for his wrongful conviction. The very first time this technique was used, it failed, and that was in nineteen fifty five. It did the only thing it's good at.

It extracted a false confession. Now that technique remains in use in the US and in Australia. But your ABC, our ABC four Corners, a program we fund with vast resources, chose not to look at the issue of innocent people in prison in Australia, chose not to look at police corruption in Australia, and chose to ignore people like Derrek Bromley, Kevin Henry, Andrew Mallard, and the many unknown names of Australians, but more particularly Aboriginal in terrestrate Islander peoples who are

in prison right now for crimes they didn't commit. I hope people will express their displeasure at this and call on the ABC to use the resources we provide as taxpayers and we provide given they live and profit on this land, to investigate the cases I've named and many more. Speaking of Western Australia where Andrew Mallard once called home, once again we have to report there's been a death

in custody. Because this podcast goes out to a range of community radio stations, and is listened to by the Aboriginal entur Austrade Islander community across Australia. I will not name the young woman who died in police custody. Her name has been used in the public, but it's quite possible that family members of hers are unaware of her death or that it would be further distressing to those listening today. But what we can tell you is that

this was another case of mistaken identity. The young mother of three was arrested and held on the ground inside her own mother's house in Victoria Park in Western Australia. Up to eight police officers held her down and screamed a name. It was not her name. It was a case of mistaken identity, As her mother said, they did not turn the lights on and they manhandled my daughter to the ground where she urinated herself. This was all

while calling her a different name. We know that from both sides, both police the family, that at least six officers were involved in physically detaining the young woman. They failed to properly check her identity and only did so after they were repeatedly told they had the wrong person. Police then claim that after her identity was ascertained she was left in the care of a family member. We do not know if this is true at this stage.

It's hard to believe anything the Western Australian Police say. But some twenty minutes later police came into contact with this young woman again. They state she was behaving erratically. Again, we only have the police's version of events. She was then handcuffed and taken away. During this process of being taken to the police station, she lost consciousness and the handcuffs were removed and police and paramedics commenced CPR. They state she was revived and taken by ambulance to Royal

Perth Hospital. She was there placed an induced coma, but sadly for her young children, her mother, her family and her community, she passed away. This is absolutely what we call a death in custody, a black death in custody. There is absolutely no suggestion that this young woman committed any crime. There was no reason for the police to be in her mother's home, let alone holding this young

woman to the ground. Remember more than six, possibly eight police officers holding her down, and there was no reason for them to put handcuffs on her. At a later time. The police claim this was done for her own safety. How can it be safe if she's now dead once again. The findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody twenty eight years ago show that all the recommendations that were come to nearly three decades ago must be

put into place and must be implemented. They have not, and nearly three decades later, a young woman has needlessly lost her life at the hands of police. What makes this case even more shocking, if it could be any more shocking, is the young woman's father died in nineteen ninety nine as a result of a death in custody. Both he and his daughter were twenty six years old when they died at the hands of the Western Australian State.

Twenty six years old. These are young people, young people whose health should never have been in a position for police to claim endlessly that natural causes is what caused them to die. Young people who shouldn't have needed any contact with police. But as you've heard, this young woman whose name the police had wrong it was a mistaken identity, barged into the mother's home in the middle of the

night and pinned her to the ground. Police might claim natural causes, but doctors at the Royal Perth Hospital have told the family the young woman's injuries included a two inch gap between two of the vertebrae at the back of her neck. That is not a natural death. That is a death at the hands of police. At least four hundred and eleven people Aboriginal in Torres Strait Islander people have died since the Royal Commission into Black Deaths

in custody. Now we have to add another young Aboriginal person, a mother, a daughter, a community member, and this family deserves justice. The community in Western Australia deserve justice and the police have to be held accountable. Young people in the prime of their life do not die for no reason. They die because things like a two inch gap is later found in the back of their vertebrae. That is

not a natural cause. Something happened and the coroner in Western Australia must get to the bottom of it and will continue to update you on this case. Sadly, that's not all the bad news to report. In Victoria, in a case that's recently come to light, there is the story of proud Yorda Yorder woman Arnie Tanya Day Arnie

Tanya was fifty five years old at the time. She loved her family, she always had a smile on her face and she was active both online and in the community in raising awareness about issues affecting Aboriginal people, and her last post on Facebook was to highlight a black death in custody in New South Wales, a cause she was passionately supporting and she was in the process of helping to raise funds for the affected young man's family.

On that day, Unie Tania boarded a train in rural Victoria headed for Melbourne, where she was going to visit family, but she never got to her family. Somewhere along that journey, Miss Day had fallen asleep. It's believed she'd been drinking on the day, but how much is not known. She was woken and startled by a conductor asking to see her ticket. According to them, she seemed confused and couldn't

find her ticket. The ticket inspector called the police, who arrived from Castle Maine, and Arnie Tanna was arrested for public drunkenness. She was then taken to the Castlemaine Police station, and this was for the purposes according to Victoria Police of sobering up. But by the end of that day, rather than being with her family, Untitanya was unconscious and in hospital. Seventeen days after being detained, she died. What happened is still being investigated by a coronial process that

continues to this day. Later, i'll share information of how you can support the family, and there is another event tomorrow Tuesday that we would encourage you to attend. When miss Day's son was notified, Warren was told that she had a small knock to the noggin but that she was fine. Clearly that is not true. Miss Day was taken by ambulance to the Bendigo Hospital and when her

children arrived, the site was shocking. Her daughter April describes she was on the bed, she had tubes and she was strapped down, But it was the bruise that was on her head that was the most noticeable because I thought to myself, for it to be that big and that black, she must have really hurt herself. What we don't know is how Auntie Tanya became so injured. What we don't know is how Auntie Tanya received that mortal wound that he's still being investigated. As I say, by

a coronial inquest. Victoria Police have commented a number of times that it would be inappropriate to provide comment on the matter because it is before the coroner. But Curtin the podcast is unafraid to call to the public attention the issues that the case of Arnie Tanna Curly highlights. One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal debts in custody was to abolish the crime of public drunkenness.

It was clear twenty eight years ago that this was a law used to target Aboriginal and Torrestraate Island at people. It's still in Victoria has not been abolished. Just like the family in Western Australia, the Day family in Victoria also lost a loved one. Arnie Tagner's late uncle, Harrison Day, died in police custody for not paying a fine for public drunkenness. His death was examined by the Royal Commission. But what is public drunkenness and why is it still

a crime in Victoria. Public drunkenness is quite simply as the name suggests, being drunk in public. This is purely down to the discretion of the police officers who attend each individual case. We have no idea on that day how much alcohol Arnie Tagna had consumed, but that it was purely at the discretion of the police to remove her from the train instead of allowing her to continue to see her family, and to place her in a cell. They say they did that for her own protection and

her own safety. Just like the young woman who died in least custody in Western Australia. How could it be for Arnie Tanya's safety to put her in a cell where, for reasons yet to be determined, she died before the police arrived. She was on a train asleep, heading to family in Melbourne. We do not know what happened in that cell, but we do know there was no reason

to arrest Arnie Tanna on that day. How and why do we know this picture Melbourne On any winter weekend, roughly two hundred thousand people each weekend attend AFL football matches at the stadiums that dot Melbourne and Greater Victoria. Large amounts of alcohol are served. People leave that public stadium and enter into the public domain. Some go straight home via public transport, Others go on to restaurants, nightclubs,

and about their business. Why those people never arrested. Expand it further, If public drunkenness is such a crime, why is every single person who leaves a pub or a club having consumed alcohol not arrested the moment they step on the footpath. The answer is quite obvious. Only Aboriginal people are targeted by this law, and that is exactly why the Royal Commission in nineteen ninety one, twenty eight long years ago, recommended that this law be scrapped. But

let's look also at the actions of police. Go to any capital city in Australia on any night and near the districts where pubs and clubs flourish. Young people, old people, people of every background are seen outside of these pubs and clubs and walking the streets heavily intoxicated. Many are so drunk they're violently ill. These people are not detained

and handcuffed by police and put in a cell. These people, if they are so sick they are at risk to their own health, have an ambulance called and they're taken to the hospital, or they are placed in the care of a friend or a family member and taken home, either by police by private transport, or via public transport. They're not arrested simply for doing something that is completely legal in Australia, consuming alcohol. So again we have to ask why was Aunt Tania targeted. This was not late

at night. She was harming nobody, She was causing trouble to nobody. No one had complained, There was no issue other than being an Aboriginal woman on a train going to see her family. What makes this even more infuriating is that Artie Tanna was doing exactly the thing police and public health officials always ask the entire community to do that if you've been drinking, not to drive, take public transport, take a taxi, call a friend, do anything

but get behind the wheel. Arnie Tanna did exactly that and boarded a train. But rather than being allowed to continue to her loving family and her children, she was placed in a cell, the most dangerous place in Australia for any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the custody of or in one of their cells, just like the young woman in Western Australia, Just like so many Aboriginal Arrestraate Islander people who have died in custody, Arnie

Tanya was in good health. She was fifty five, but she was a young fifty five. She was a member of her local gym, She ate good food, and having previously suffered trauma in her life, she was doing what we hope for all of our loved ones, for all of our community members, for anyone in our society. She was making the most of her life, a life cruelly cut short by police. And even as they continue to battle for justice for Arnie Tena, her family continue to

be treated as poorly as their mother was. During hearings into just what happened to their mother, a police officer entered the building carrying a paper bag that contained the belongings of Arnie Tenure. Her family had been trying to get those belongings back since she passed away. In front of her children, that police officer sat with the paper bag with her belongings at his feet. Why couldn't those

belongings have been given back to her family? Why did a police officer have to so clearly make them visible in front of her children who were in their grief a fighting to get justice for their mum. Clearly, if Victoria police can't treat a person with respect and dignity and death. They can't do it when someone is living. Continue to update you on just what occurs in the coronial inquest into the death of Arnie Tanner day, but

please support the family on social media. You can follow their Instagram and Facebook accounts at Justice for Tenure Day. There you'll also find a petition that we would urge you to sign that is calling on the Premiere of Victoria Daniel Andrews to immediately abolish these ridiculous and inhumane laws that deal with public drunkenness, designed to target Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that leads to so

many unnecessary and unlawful deaths. No more families should suffer and as we call for this, please rally around Arnie Tanner's family tomorrow. You can do so by attending a direction's hearing at the Coroner's Court into South Bank, Melbourne at ten am. That's Tuesday, the thirtieth of April. These cruel, needless and unjust deaths will only stop when Australia turns and faces the original sin of this country, the continued murdering and destruction of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres

straight Islander people and that can't change. While the national broadcast of the ABC continues to place its focus on the United States, we show our solidarity always on curtain the podcast with those fighting for justice around the world. Here you've heard about cases like Rodney Reid in Texas, but it's time the world turns their attention to what's being done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people like Kevin Henry, like Miss Dew, like Derek Bromley, like Miss Marr,

and like so many others. Call for the change and be active in creating that change, and we'll walk with you. That was kurtin the podcast.