Faruk Orman released after gangland murder conviction quashed over Lawyer X scandal

Court of appeal orders former getaway driver be immediately released due to miscarriage of justice caused by his lawyer Nicola Gobbo

Melbourne gangland getaway driver Faruk Orman will be immediately released from jail because of a “substantial miscarriage of justice” caused by his double-agent lawyer Nicola Gobbo, also known as Lawyer X.

Victoria’s court of appeal ordered Orman be released without delay after a hearing in Melbourne on Friday found he should be acquitted due to Gobbo’s actions while she was representing him.

She is alleged to have encouraged a key witness, whose evidence was central to securing Orman’s conviction, to talk to police.

It’s the first conviction to be overturned in the wake of the Lawyer X scandal, uncovered when police were forced to reveal that Gobbo had been acting as their informant.

The scandal sparked a royal commission, which is ongoing.

Orman wiped away tears in the courtroom as the decision was announced.

Orman, 37, was jailed for 20 years in 2009, with a minimum of 14 years, after a supreme court jury convicted him of murdering Victor Peirce in 2002. He has always protested his innocence.

The appeal could serve as a test case for more than 20 other convictions that have been placed in doubt since Gobbo’s role as a police informer was revealed last year.

Victorian director of public prosecutions, Kerri Judd, told the court of appeal at its first mention hearing on Friday that there had been a serious miscarriage of justice, and that despite there being enough evidence to support the charge it would be unjust to demand a retrial because Orman had already spent 12 years behind bars.

The witness, allegedly encouraged by Gobbo, gave evidence that Orman had confessed to being the getaway driver for hitman Andrew “Benji” Veniamin, who shot Peirce and was himself murdered two years later.

Judd conceded as much in the court on Friday. She did not concede that the witness’s evidence would therefore be inadmissible, only that a retrial would be unjust. more...

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/26/faruk-orman-released-after-gangland-conviction-quashed-over-lawyer-x-scandal