Joanne Lees

[monkeytrousers]

Is it just me or are the media still desperate to dramatise this rather than report it?

She's already had a horrible time at the hands of the Aussie press. How much to you think their speculation has affected her public perception here?

Dino,if someone was going to kill you and your bloke,do you reckon you'd remember stuff like that?

He probably does XXXX commercials in his spare time, Tinker!

Ms Lees is not on trial!
It is so sad that a victim & witness can be so judged simply because she does not look and act as women are 'supposed' to look and act.

It is a fascinating case though, mostly due to the lack of a body, I guess. Will be interested to see how cross-examined about her saying she was calling out Pete's name - at what stage did she do it etc? Just interested, do believe her.

I think she is damned either way - if she turns up in court looking half decent she is vilified for being a wanton hussey, but if she looks bedreaggled and cries the whole time she is accused of being a drama queen etc...as far as I can see this guy did it. If his DNA was found in blood on her clothing that's pretty incriminating IMO.
Basically anything involving a young-ish pretty-ish female is fair game for the tabloids to turn into some kind of sex related saga.
I feel sorry for Peter Falconio's parents.

moondog, the only thing that occurred to me was that, if she had indeed been placed in the front of the van and had to climb over the seats to get into the back, that would have been so much harder to accomplish than "just" getting out of the back of the van. Both would, obviously, be pretty darn difficult if you were blindfolded, had your hands tied behind your back and had your legs tied. But it just seemed strange that she wouldn't notice if she had had to make the superhuman effort of doing the first, instead of the nearly superhuman effort of doing the second.

Like Tinker says, I'm just interested, I do believe her.

I'm a naturally suspicious person - don't think we're getting the whole truth. Wasn't she having an affair?

I think I read that at the time they had these super duper aboriginal trackers on the case and the only footprints they could find were hers (or am I making it up??!)

She had a fling. That's hardly grounds to suspect her of murder. And aboriginal trackers?? The myths abound..

this isn't news in france, i haven't followed it v. closely... - but does anyone seriously think she planned the whole thing? wtf?

she seems like a bit of a stroppy cow
but AFAIK thats not yet an arrestable offence
thank the lord

yes aboriginal trackers were used

not much about it in this story though

this mentions aboriginal trackers but backs her story rather than doubts it

And there's a quote at the end of this from an aboriginal tracker who believed Joanne Lees's story

But surely Aboriginal trackers cannot be considered serious witnesses for the prosecution or defence? This is what I mean about myths. What actual relevance does it have to the case or is it just more wild speculation?

That article mentions the road rage incident where the girlfriend was later convicted of her boyfriends murder. I'm wracking my brains and I can only remember this one incident where a woman has tried to brazen it out in such a way, yet I can think of a few where men have done the same.

Why however has this one episode seeped to deeply into the public consciousness to the point where many say they can no longer watch these press conferences without thinking the same? Is the instance of suspicion the same for men holding these press conferences too?

I was convinced that Joanne Lees was telling the truth but this list of inconsistencies makes me wonder. It will be interesting to see how her legal team deals with it. The gun thing is easy, of course - he could have used a different gun.

she was obviously the chief suspect for a long time... really reminds me of that case in the Uk where that woman (was it Danielle...?) in fact killed her boyfriend but concoted some story (anyone help me out?)

maybe the bloke on trial was just someone she decided to implicate - maybe after buying some gear from him (isn't he a dealer?)

can't think of the name dinny but I know who you mean.

she was blonde and curly..?

MT why shouldn't Aboriginal trackers be considered serious witnesses?

It isn't a science Mooney. If someone is going to loose their life and freedom it has to be based on hard evidence not a soothsayer, which (for all their undoubted standing in their communities) is what it sounds like trackers are. I might be wrong, but 'tracking' of any kind isn't considered a science so can't be admissible. Even when professional witnesses are scientists it's still dodgy, just look at Prof Roy Meadows, for one.

Suedonym, it's the defence job to look for inconsistencies and then to try to infer she's lying. But like I said before, there are inconsistencies to everyone recollections of past events, even when we're not in the dark, blindfolded and scared out of our wits.

Dinny, that's the case that I mean. Because of that one case people no automatically suspect women, but this has happened countless times with men and the automatic suspicion isn't there, not purely on the fact of their gender anyway it seems.

I think she comes across as iffy as she seemed really defensive from the start. Just can't imagine that would be your main reaction if in her place.

Saying that if she is innocent I hope she gets the verdict she wants.

MT men are just as liable to be regarded with suspicion - even if innocent (e.g. Sion Jenkins, wrongly accused of killing his foster-daughter, and a shole list of others)
But the press do love the idea of a potential female 'femme' fatale' murderer - so much more juicy for the hacks