Former ATSIC Chief Accused Of Rape

[sweetsugardumplin']

I have been following this case since allegations of sexual assault were brought against Mr Clark.

The following piece from The Age Newspaper (17/1/07) got me thinking:

The jury heard Ms Stingel suffers from anxiety, constant flashbacks and mistrust of men.
Mr Clark denies the allegations.
The trial, before Judge David Morrow, continues and is expected to last until the end of next week.
Judge Morrow excused two people from participating as jurors after they informed him they had already formed a view about the case.

Is it unrealistic to expect anyone to not form a view about such a hideous crime (whether it has been committed or not) ?

With the statistics indicating that one in three girls/women have been the victims/survivors of sexual assault. That means it's happened to you or someone you know - then how can you not form a view ?

Really interested in the views/ideas of bubhubbers - particularly those who have performed jury duty

[bubs_and_us]

i have never been a juror, but i know that i would never be able to be completely unbiased.

my sister was on a jury a few years ago. it was a rape/attempted murder case..... there is NO WAY that i could listen to the evidence without forming an opinion based on my emotions. i would most likely form a view BEFORE any evidence was presented to me... based on appearances, and what i'd 'heard'......

[daisyxs]

my mum and her ex husband (before my dad) knew him then and he is every bit the pig the media describes him as

[sweetsugardumplin']

I really hope that the woman who has brought these charges against him is able to gain some form and feeling of reconciliation.

If he and the others did these terrible things to her (and my gut feeling is - he/they did) and are convicted, then I hope she can move on and continue her healing.

My heart goes out to her and every other survivor of assault.

[SassyMummy]

I haven't read much of the thread, but I know that if it were me, I'd easily go in as a juror with an already-formed opinion.

I agree with the OP - how can you not?

Even if my opinion WAS NOT fully-formed at that point, being a mother has bought out the suspicious side of me... if someone was declared a paedophile or something like that, I'd rather vote them guilty and have them be innocent, than take the risk of letting them go free. Obviously, in the end, it WOULD depend on the evidence presented to me... but overall, I think the defence team would have to work pretty damned hard to vote someone convicted of something so horrible as innocent.

[Becteria]

I think that i would form my view based on the facts and facts alone in the position of a juror.

I would hope that should i ever be accused of something that i would recieve a fair trial, and that the jury would go in with an open mind.

Regardless of their personal experience and opinions, i would hope jurers consider the defendant innocent until proven guilty. It would be dissapointing if previous issues in an individuals life resulted in the unfair conviction of innocents. ALthough it definately does happen....