It is a great honour to spend an hour and a half discussing the fascinating intricacies of the defences of provocation, self-defence and battered wife syndrome in real-life criminal trials with a university law lecturer and barrister-at-law, which is what Hillcrest’s Year 11 Legal students experienced on Thursday, 2 June when Mr. Joe Crowley presented them with an enthralling interactive seminar in Hillcrest's ‘Eagles’ Nest’ (also known as Room 70).
It was a surreal experience for the students to spend such a significant period of time with a criminal law expert who was an integral part of the legal team, featured on ABC Television’s iconic ‘Australian Story’ programme, that led to the quashing of the murder conviction of Graham Stafford after he’d spent 14 years in prison for the alleged crime. The students were very grateful to Mr Crowley for giving of his time and considerable expertise to provide invaluable insights into criminal trial cases featuring in their end-of-term examination. This memorable experience adds another rich layer to the students’ learning experiences in the classroom, reinforcing the fact that Legal Studies is a subject for the real world.
By David Owens, Legal Studies Coordinator.
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