Joh jury inquiry focuses on investigator

Joh jury inquiry focuses on investigator

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE — The spotlight in the ongoing Criminal Justice Commission inquiry into the selection of the jury in the 1991 Joh Bjelke-Petersen corruption trial has now turned to legal adviser and investigator Bob Butler.

Butler was ordered to appear at the inquiry on May 17 after attempts by CJC investigators to contact him the previous week failed.

Butler, the main figure in the Bjelke-Petersen defence team's attempts to poll prospective jurors on their political views prior to the trial, is now the key to questions about whether a plot was under way to engineer the appearance of Friends of Joh member Luke Shaw onto the jury.

As jury foreman, Shaw was instrumental in forcing a hung jury and preventing a guilty verdict against the former Queensland premier.

In the meantime, a series of witnesses have testified to the mysterious manoeuvrings of the Joh defence team in the lead-up to the trial.

Verbal references by defence counsel to "our friend on the jury" have given an indication of where things are heading with the inquiry.

From GLW issue 100