The Case of R v Arthur Freeman

The case of R v Arthur Freeman was a murder case where Freeman threw his daughter over the Westgate Bridge after a custody decision. This article provides details about the offense, the investigation, the trial, and the sentencing.

Running Head: R v Arthur Freeman 1
The Case of R v Arthur Freeman
Name of Student
Institutional Affiliation

R v Arthur Freeman 2
Summary of the Offence
The case of R v Arthur Freeman was a murder case. Freeman (37) murdered his daughter
Darcey by throwing her over the edge of the Westgate Bridge on January 29 2009 a day after the
decision regarding the custody of the children between him and his wife Peta Barnes had been
made. Even though Freeman had consented to the decision of shared custody of the children, he
was outwardly unhappy with it and that lead to him threatening his former wife Barnes in a
phone call not to see her children again.
Upon trial, Freeman raised the defense of mental incapacitation but that was turned down
by the court as he accepted to be personally liable to the killing of her daughter despite not
remembering it. The judge, Mr. Brustman, passed a life sentence to Mr. Freeman with a non-
parole period after 32 years in prison showing the criminal justice system in Australia with
regard to sentencing.
The Crime
 The state was Victoria as the decision was made at Melbourne in the Supreme Court of
Victoria.
 The Act where this crime falls is the Sentencing Act (1991) and the Crimes Act (1958)
 The relevant section is section 11 of the Sentencing Act- whether or not a non-parole
period should be fixed; Section 464ZF (2) of the Crimes Act 1958- Forensic procedure The elements of the Crime
(i) Mens rea

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Intention to kill all the children (Freeman tells Barnes to say goodbye to all her children
and never to see her children again).
Revenge against Barnes on the decision of the Family Court (In a call with Elizabeth
Lam, Freeman said that the determination of the case lead to losing his children).
(ii) Actus Reus
The emotionless act of pulling Darcey from the front driver’s seat and lifting her up the
highest point of the Westgate Bridge and throwing her over the edge causing her death from
injuries suffered.
 The accused did not plead guilty although he accepted to be the one liable for Darcey’s
death. He raised the defense of mental impairment at the time of the offence, According
to evidence submitted, the accused was said to be suffering from severe depression which
lead to a state of dissociation. That way, the actions of the accused was not in any way
done with thoughtful intention. The defence was rejected because the jury was not
convinced that the impairment of depressive illness did not amount to mental
incapacitation. There was no evidence showing psychotic illness.
Investigative Stage
 The function of the investigative stage in any criminal justice system is to guide the
criminal investigation to establish evidence that can either lead to the conviction or
quittance of the accused. During this stage, evidence is gathered to identify and support

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an arrest. With Freeman, the investigative phase was to determine his liability to the
murder of Darcey.
 The police force involved in the case was The Victoria Police Daily Mail (2016).
 The investigative power of the police body include the making of an arrest, using force,
breaching traffic rules in the course of duty, investigate crimes in plain clothes at any
time of the day or night.
 The Jurisdiction of the Victoria Police is within the boundaries of Victoria State.
 The main focus of the investigation was the circumstances with which the death of the
young girl occurred and the perpetrator of the throw, and whether the throw was the
result of the death of the victim.
 The investigative tool used in this case are mainly a closed-circuit television (CCTV)
program. The program used surveillance cameras to show the video footage of Freeman
at the Bridge and later in the court building.
 The suspect was apprehended by submitting himself to arrest at the Commonwealth Law
Courts.
 The police owed the duty of care to Freeman because at the time of the commission of
the crime, he was with his children overnight and was the one taking Darcey to school on
her first day.
 After the apprehension, the suspect was remanded as in the final decision of the court he
had served 802 days in custody pursuant to the sentence.

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Adjudicative Stage
 The function of the adjudicative stage in this case with regard to the crime was to show
the claims of all the parties had been heard by the court and that the fair decision had
been reached- setting Freeman forth for a life imprisonment. It is the hearing stage.
(Cane, 2009)
 In criminal justice, a committal hearing is a one done in a magistrate’s court at which
evidence of a crime is presented in the determination of a probable cause that can lead to
the belief that the respondent committed the crime with which he or she is accused of or
if there was evidence proving possible guilt to determine to the court to which the
respondent is to be committed (Victoria Legal Aid, 2018). . The committal hearing was at
Melbourne Magistrates Court (Lowe, 2009).
 The trial was held at the supreme court of Victoria.
 The hearing took 802 days. From the 29th of January 2009 to 11th April.
 The key evidence that led to the conclusion of guilt was the fact that the defence of
insanity could not stand as it was decided that Freeman knew what he was doing. He had
the ability to exercise appropriate judgment, rational choices, and thinking clearly
(according to the decision in R v Tsiaras) despite his depression causing a state of
dissociation and therefore he was liable. Moreover, he was only having a depressive
illness but not psychotic problems.
 The agencies that the role in the adjudicative stage were the jury, Victoria police and
medical officers (Dr. Walton, Dr. Skinner, and Professor Burrows).

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 The sentence was that Freeman would be in life imprisonment but with a fixed period of
32 years after which he would be eligible for parole. The sentence was inclusive of the
802 days spend in remand during the pursuant of the sentence. The sentence also stated
that Arthur Philip should be subjected to forensic procedure for the taking of the
scraping of the mouth under the provisions of the Crimes Act 1958 subdivision 30 (A) of
part 3 and that was to go on until there was a sufficient standard for placing the database.
 The mitigating objects raised by the accused after sentencing were that Freeman were
that Freeman had an unsettled primary education because of bullying, and had an
unremarkable family life with his mother receiving some psychiatric help. Others were
that he was continually supportive of his children and their education and at one time
being with the children (without a job) when the wife (Barnes) was working, he was
undergoing some medication against his mental condition and that he was with a clean
criminal record (a first time offender).
The Correctional Stage
 The objective of criminal law has shifted from being just a retribution process and is now
incorporating rehabilitation and reformation of offenders (Alschuler, 2003). The
correctional stage in most cases begins at sentencing. Sentencing, as a legal phase,
anticipates the correctional function. In the case of Freeman, the purpose served by the
correctional stage with regard to the murder crime was retribution, incapacitation,
rehabilitation and deterrence (Matetoa, 2013). Freeman had to undergo retribution as a
punishment (Infliction of pain) because of the offence done and the impact it had on the
community. Deterrence was necessary for Freeman who wanted to be let free without
punishment despite committing murder. It was also necessary that Arthur be taken

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through incapacitation correction in order to be separated from the rest of the society as
even with his persisting oppressive disorder, he was a continued threat to the society. The
last correction that purposeful to Freeman was rehabilitation and that way, he would be
reformed to avoid further judicial problems (O'Toole, 2006).
 It is not clear in the sentencing which prison Arthur Freeman was to be taken. However,
it could be in include the HM Prison Barwon being an Australian high risk and maximum
security prison. Arthur as a convict of murder is eligible for that kind of jail. It is for
males (like Freeman). It is located in Victoria and anyone remanded and sentenced under
the Victorian legislation is eligible.
 Barwon prison is run by Corrections Victoria which is part of the Department of Justice
& Regulation of the Government of Victoria (Corrections, Prisons & Parole Victoria.,
2018).
 The prison life in the facility is not a very pleasing with many lawless incidents reported
in the past. For example, Carl Williams, who was a convicted murder and an inmate in
the facility was brutally killed (with an iron bar) by a fellow jailbird, Mathew Johnson in
2010 (Hough, 2011). Recently, in 2015, a group of prison officers suffered injuries in an
unprovoked attack in one of the units (Grevillea) in Barwon Prison (Hamblin & Buttler,
2015).

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References
Cases
R v Freeman (Arthur) (2011) VSC 139
R v Tsiaras [1996] 1 VR 398
Legislation
Crimes Act of 1958
Sentencing Act of 1991
Others
Alschuler, A. W. (2003). The changing purposes of criminal punishment: A retrospective on the
past century and some thoughts about the next. The University of Chicago Law
Review, 70(1), 1-22.
Corrections, Prisons & Parole Victoria. (2018). Corrections.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 3 April 2019,
from http://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/
Daily Mail (2016). Colleen Spiteri suing Victoria Police over Darcey Freeman's murder. Mail
Online. Retrieved 3 April 2019, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
3460056/Colleen-Spiteri-suing-Victoria-Police-handling-Darcey-Freeman-s-murder.html
Hamblin A., Buttler, M., (2015) Officers injured in prison attack. Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 3
April 2019, from https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/barwon-prison-violence-
officers-injured-at-victorian-maximum-security-jail/news-story/
b86f0da6c5679e4067b3741fdb93abbd
Matetoa, J. M. (2013). The professional role of the correctional officer in the rehabilitation of
offenders (Doctoral dissertation).
O'Toole, S. (2006). The history of Australian corrections. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Victoria Legal Aid. (2018). Serious criminal charges |. Legalaid.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 3 April
2019, from https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/find-legal-answers/going-to-court-for-
criminal-charge/serious-criminal-charges