Japan's former princess leaves for US with commoner husband. Nick had a wife, a baby and job — but he couldn't buy nappies without asking his parents. Popular Now 1. Muammar's son pitches for power as presidential election draws near Posted 3h ago 3 hours ago Sun 14 Nov at pm. Liberal backbenchers call for more ambitious emission reduction target Posted 3h ago 3 hours ago Sun 14 Nov at pm.
Al Jazeera demands the Sudanese military release arrested bureau chief Posted 4h ago 4 hours ago Sun 14 Nov at pm. More Just In. Back to top. He ended the two-week-long trial by acquitting year-old Gabe Watson on his own. Watson had faced a sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of murdering his wife, Tina Thomas Watson, in He already served 18 months in an Australian prison after pleading guilty there to a manslaughter charge involving negligence.
Nail agreed with defence arguments that prosecutors failed to show Watson intentionally killed the woman. Prosecutors claimed he drowned her for insurance money, but the only eyewitness testified he thought Watson was trying to save the woman.
Gabe Watson's father, David, hugged his son in the courtroom after the judge made his ruling. Within five hours, the jury had agreed, and indicted Watson on charges of capital murder for pecuniary gain, and capital murder by kidnapping.
Prosecutors could not afford to produce key witnesses from Australia, and were unable to present key evidence painstakingly constructed by police. Police also uncovered an email that Watson had sent the dive operator five months before the honeymoon, inquiring about the diving conditions at the SS Yongala site.
An employee replied that because Tina was an inexperienced diver, she should either take an orientation dive or not dive at the site at all. But again, the judge refused to allow the evidence to be used, because the employee was unable to testify. With the prosecution hamstrung, the judge decided there was not enough evidence to continue proceedings and threw the case out. The two academics hope their book will act as a warning of how belt-tightening can undermine justice systems.
Flynn said this was an example of the creeping threat that financial restraints posed to justice. An evil lives within killer Jamie Lee Dolheguy, but was it always there or did it manifest from the years of abuse and neglect that marred her childhood. Read Today's Paper Tributes. Australian authorities deported him back to the United States after getting assurance from U. Watson was then arrested, in November , in Los Angeles. In the opening arguments of Watson's U. But defense attorney Brett Bloomston said that Tina's father was the beneficiary on her workplace insurance policy.
Watson filed for some expenses from a travel policy, but it was denied on a technicality, Bloomston said. His client did sue an insurance company when it denied him an accidental death benefit, the attorney said. The defense argued that Tina Watson was wearing too much weight with her suit when she died, and that a strong current, her relative diving inexperience and a pattern of anxiety during dives were contributing factors.
During the trial, Judge Nail spelled out what he believed were the basics of the prosecution's case -- that Gabe Watson had schemed in Alabama to kill his new wife.
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