PROMINENT Melbourne Barrister and Queens Council, Peter Morrissey QC, has been appointed to defend Senior Constable Andrew Twining. 

Senior Constable Twining is suspended from Victoria Police and faces firearms offences, including possessing an unregistered handgun.    He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is expected to appear for a Commital Hearing on the 14th February, 2007. 

Senior Constable Twining did not consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court over the charges and instead elected to go to trial.

Senior Constable Twining was romantically linked to convicted catch-me-if-you-can-thief, Jodie Harris.

It is beleived that the charges arise from a Search Warrant executed where the two had been staying.

Jodie Harris, 28, pleaded guilty to 132 identity fraud related offences which netted her more than $175,000 from October 2005 to June 2006.

She was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail in N.S.W. on the 5th August, 2006.  The minimum non parole period was set at 3 and a half years.  Harris will be eligible for parole in January 2010.   She was also been ordered to pay compensation to financial institutions caught up in the scam.

Harris still has significant charges outstanding in both Victoria and Queensland. 

She used stolen licences and bank cards to assume the identity of her victims and drain their bank accounts.

In a Court Hearing in October, 2006, Mr Sutton for the prosecution, told the court the charges against Senior Constable Twining related to possession of an imitation firearm found when police executed a search warrant on his house.

"The defendant in this matter was a serving police officer at the time," he said.

"At the time the firearm was found Miss Harris hadn't been in his home for weeks.

"The defendant was a serving police officer. He knows his obligations."

Harris has been called to evidence against the officer.

But Tony Hargraves, for Sen-Constable Twining, said Harris was "the most important witness in the case".

Deputy Chief Magistrate Paul Smith said the charges against Sen-Constable Twining were grave and ordered that Harris give her evidence in person.     

"I cannot believe (cross-examination) could be properly done by video link," Mr Smith said.

"The real issue is one of practicality. It is necessary for the witness to be there for documents to be put to her.

"I think given the gravity of the charges it is important for the witness to be there."

In July, 2006, Jodie Harris was arrested in Sydney in company with Senior Constable Andrew Twining from Victoria Police.   Twining reportedly was instumental in her capture and subsequent arrest and was engaged in an undercover sanctioned Victoria Police Operation.   Media reports at the time claimed that Harris was pregnant and that the two were engaged but this is untrue.   Twining was involved in very short term relationship with Harris and was unaware of her past or active criminal behaviour.

Harris has also been romantically linked to a series of Police Officers's in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

Harris has a long history of involving herself with police and Detectives from various States of Australia;

In 1993, Jody Pearson (Harris) allegedly had a sexual relationship with former Senior Constable (Edited by Webmaster) (Victoria Police) when she was just 15.   He is now  (Edited by Webmaster)  Liberal Party.  He was never investigated or charged in connection with his relationship with Harris despite her being a minor at the time.

Also in 1993, Harris had a relationship with former Constable Brett Bardsley.   Harris was at the time 15 but told Bardsley she was 20 and showed him a false licence.    Bardsley ultimeately resigned from the Victoria Police Force after a traffic collision in which Bardsley was blackmailed (due to her being underage) into admitting he was the driver of a vehicle that Harris was driving. 

After Harris was arrested and placed in custody as a minor, aged 16, she had a sexual relationship with former Inspector Michael (Deleted by Webmaster) from the Victoria Police Internal Investigations Department (Ethical Standards Department)  The Inspector was investigated about an inappropriate relationship with Harris but this was covered up by investigators and Victoria Police.  No charges were ever laid.

In 1998, Jodie Harris impersonated police and gained access to a high security police complex in Roma Street, Brisbane.

Also in 1998, Sergeant Neil Proud from the Queensland Police Service was demoted after his association with Harris.  It was reported in the Queensland Supreme Court that Harris had been living with the Sergeant in a common law husband and wife relationship for some time.    Proud was demoted after he continued his relationship with Harris after she was revealed as a significant criminal and charge and bailed.

In 2001, Jodie went from Brisbane to Sydney and lived with a N.S.W. detective for about six months.

In 2002, Jodie Harris regularly attended both Greensborough and Fitzroy C.I.B. over several weeks and involved herself with several detectives who had sex with her. 

In late 2002, Jody Harris gained access to the Victorian Crime Squad Offices at St.Kilda Road by impersonating an interstate detective.   She produced a stolen police badge and was issued with a firearm so she could accompany detectives on raids.  Several of the St.Kilda Road detectives also had sexual relations with her.

It is also reported that members of the Prahran C.I.B. had relations with Harris.

In an interesting twist, it is rumoured that Harris is also a police informer and her method of operation is to involve herself with police officers so as to gain preferential threatment from internal investigators when arrested.

Harris was found in possession of a false passport as well as a stolen N.S.W. police access cards and badges when arrested in Sydney at 4.30 a.m. on the 6th July, 2006.  She was also found in possession of numerous stolen credit cards, wigs and disguises.

Harris has a long history of providing information to Internal Police Investigators on arrest. 

A Witness Summons has also been issued against the Chief Commissioner of Police by solicitors representing Mr Twining, to produce copies of all documents relevant to the dealings of ESD investigators with Jodie Harris.   This matter is listed with the Melbourne Magistrates Court on the 6th February, 2007.

It is beleived that the amount of unrecovered loss in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria for thefts, deceptions and credit card fraud amounts to in excess of $500,000.  She is yet to face Court in Queensland or Victoria. 

Both of Harris's parents were jailed for drug trafficking when she was 13.

Source:  Various

Acknowledgements

The Herald Sun

The Age

ABC Online

Related Links

Identity "Catch Me If You Can" Thief Called as Cop Witness   Police Forces EXposed  

Transfer Me If You Can - (NSW/VIC)   Police Forces EXposed

Convicted Conwoman Jody Harris Link to Tony Mokbel  Police Forces EXposed

Related Reading

Barrister Fights in War Crimes Trial Full of Challenges

Peter Morrissey, QC. 

Admitted to Practise in 1993.

Peter Morrissey finds honour in defending the good and the bad.  

Melbourne barrister Peter Morrissey is inspired by representing child rapists, police murderers and contract killers.

He talks of the honour in defending the community's most hated offenders and believes that "even the nastiest people have always got a 5 per cent about them to like".

"Good people sometimes do shocking things, as anybody who does murder trials knows," Mr Morrissey says.

He feels empathy with such people and can't avoid the desire to fight hard to do the right thing for clients who face life sentences.

He also finds it a "very natural human response" to do the best he can for them so at least they know they are not forgotten and will be properly represented at their trial.

"It's one of the great attractions of being a defence barrister in crime because it actually matters whether you get out of bed or not," he says.

Mr Morrissey knows the role of a defence barrister is attacked by those with an interest in severe sentences and who "see the criminal justice system as entertainment".

But all the safeguards are in place, he argues, because "the community will get the guilty ones, the innocent ones will get off and the ones who are doubtful will get off too".

Mr Morrissey's commitment to the defence cause now extends internationally with his appointment to appear in a war crimes trial in The Hague.

The case involves an army general charged with murder. It began this week.

Former Bosnian military commander Sefer Halilovic, who has pleaded not guilty, is facing the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia over two mass killings near Mostar in September 1993, during the Bosnian war.

A total of 62 mostly elderly Bosnian Croat civilians, including women and children, were killed.

It is not alleged Halilovic ordered or sought the atrocities, but that he should have known the killings were going to happen and took no effective measures to stop them or punish the perpetrators.

In a decision by the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, Halilovic, 52, is the first person charged solely on the basis of "command responsibility".

This means he could be found guilty of being criminally responsible for the acts of subordinates.

Mr Morrissey, 44, a barrister for 10 years, was offered the case when fellow Melbourne barrister Lex Lasry, QC, who was unavailable, recommended him.

Mr Morrissey's father was renowned former Victorian chief Crown prosecutor Jim Morrissey, QC.

His father-in-law is veteran defence barrister Brian Bourke, once the junior counsel for Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Australia, at Pentridge Prison in 1967.

Mr Morrissey says Halilovic, a Muslim, appears to have adopted the view that the army should not be an advocate of revenge, and in 1995 publicly demanded both massacres be investigated.

Trials at The Hague, although adversarial, have evolved differently to those in Australia, which will pose a number of challenges for the Morrissey team.

For instance, defence lawyers have less control over proceedings than in Australia.

"It's going to be a challenge for me to make sure I can apply the appropriate standards and persuade the judges to see them my way," he told The Age before flying to The Hague.

Another disadvantage will be the use of interpreters, blunting what Mr Morrissey sees as his tactical "eye-balling histrionics" and the emotional, manipulative side of questioning. With interpreters, he says, "you can't mock people, you can't make them feel uncomfortable, demonstrate disbelief or encouragement in the same way".

Because no pre-trial hearing was held, "when we see the witnesses, it'll be for the first time and we're not going to know what they're like, whether they're hostile, friendly, truthful, lying or scared", Mr Morrissey says.

But he suspects many witnesses will have enough reasons for "telling a lot of different stories . . . some of the witnesses against Sefer want to make sure they weren't responsible".

Mr Morrissey's wife Judy and their three children have joined him in the Netherlands.

Although not fazed by a bolstered CV, he grudgingly concedes there is some glamour involved in appearing at The Hague.

"But those considerations soon vanish in the face of the hard work you have to do," he says, dismissing any suggestion of "self-aggrandisement of the individual".

"I've got a belief in the righteousness of the case and Sefer's steadfastly claimed innocence all along," he says.

"He was an amazing performer in the war and there was many an opportunity for him to go down the path of hate.

"There's a verdict there we'll be fighting like hell to get."

Source:  The Age   - February 5, 2005. Steve Butcher

Photo:  The Age - John Woudstra