prosecuting attorney in storm in a teacup

#Prosecuting attorney in storm in a teacup trial#
#Prosecuting attorney in storm in a teacup series#

The office is divided into the following divisions: Criminal, Family Support and Juvenile. The Prosecuting Attorney is independent of the Michigan Attorney General. Elections occur at the time of the Presidential election, on the partisan ballot. MARK COLVIN: Flinders University Political Analyst Dr Haydon Manning ending that report from Nance Haxton.The Prosecuting Attorney is an elected official with a four-year term of office, as provided by the Michigan Constitution.

#Prosecuting attorney in storm in a teacup series#

Why he chose not to, what would we have found out had he? In the end the jury sat and listened to the Premier, the Deputy Premier, a series of witnesses, and beyond reasonable doubt it was pretty evident coming out in the reports that Randall Ashbourne had done nothing seriously wrong. HAYDON MANNING: Well, that does remain an interesting thing to ponder. NANCE HAXTON: Is the great unanswered question Ralph Clarke's involvement in all this, because of course he wasn't called as a witness? Well of course the jury today found there was nothing in it, so you have to wonder why the Premier, in the first instance, appear so upset. HAYDON MANNING: When it came out into the public arena everyone was thinking there must be something in this. Political analyst Dr Haydon Manning from Flinders University says the entire incident has proven to be a storm in a teacup. He refused to be interviewed on the subject today, only issuing a statement saying that he will discuss the scope of any inquiry when Parliament resumes next week. NANCE HAXTON: South Australia's Premier Mike Rann, who testified during the criminal trial, promised back in 2003 that an independent inquiry would be conducted into the matter. We need to make certain that we have an inquiry, a royal commission, that has Ralph Clarke appear. We never heard evidence from the person who was absolutely central to this case. SANDRA KANCK: Well, questions as to why Ralph Clarke wasn't attending at this particular hearing. NANCE HAXTON: What would a royal commission cover that this court case hasn't been able to uncover? SANDRA KANCK: Well, I think a royal commission is what will find out whether or not there was a corruption, but we do need to find out for instance why the Government didn't handle this straight away to the police anti-corruption branch, and why they instead opted for an internal inquiry. NANCE HAXTON: South Australian Democrats Leader, Sandra Kanck, says her call for a royal commission into the affairs still stands. RALPH CLARKE: I'm delighted for Randall's sake about the verdict to acquit him. Ralph Clarke would not give an expansive interview today, only saying he is happy with the verdict. Judge David instructed the jury to put conjecture out of their minds as to why Mr Clarke would not give evidence. Judge Michael David told the jury both the defence and the prosecution had tried unsuccessfully to contact Mr Clarke, but he simply didn't want to come to court. However, the other central figure in the allegations, Ralph Clarke himself, refused to cooperate with the defence or prosecution.

Mr Ashbourne told the court that his aim was to rehabilitate Mr Clarke back into the Labor Party, and that he never offered any board positions, as it was not within his power to do so.

It was alleged that while Mr Ashbourne was a senior political adviser to Premier Mike Rann, he offered positions on government boards to former MP and Labor outcast Ralph Clarke, in exchange for dropping defamation action against the Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. NANCE HAXTON: While the jury was unanimous in its not guilty verdict, there are still many questions that remain unanswered regarding this case. RANDALL ASHBOURNE: Well, it's been a fairly terrible ordeal, and I'm glad it's all over, and I would sincerely like to thank the members of the jury. After being released from the dock Mr Ashbourne embraced his defence counsel Mark Griffin, and had only a brief statement for the awaiting media. It took the jury less than an hour to acquit Randall Ashbourne of improperly exercising his power and influence.

#Prosecuting attorney in storm in a teacup trial#

NANCE HAXTON: In the end, South Australia's first political corruption trial finished with a fizz instead of a bang. He could have faced up to seven years' jail if found guilty. Mr Ashbourne breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the foreman read out the verdict. The case against Mr Ashbourne was that in 2002 he allegedly offered inducements to the former Labor MP Ralph Clarke, in return for Mr Clarke dropping a libel case against South Australia's Attorney-General. MARK COLVIN: A jury in Adelaide's District Court has found the former political adviser Randall Ashbourne not guilty of abuse of public office.