Networked Knowledge – Media Report

[This version of the report has been edited by Dr Robert N Moles
Underlining where it occurs is for editorial emphasis]

Dr Allan Cala homepage
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Article: UK law on miscarriages of justice
Article: USA law on miscarriages of justice

On 5 October 2006, Colin James in The Advertiser reported that a forensic pathologist at South Australia’s State Forensic Centre “critically” misled a State coroner over the deaths of two people. He said that the NSW State Coroner (John Abernethy) had told the NSW Government he had been misled by the evidence of Dr Allan Cala, who found a couple had died in a car accident, when they had been suffocated by their adopted son. He added that there was no suggestion of a deliberate deception.

James pointed out that Dr Cala (formerly of the Glebe Mortuary in Sydney) has been under close scrutiny at the State Forensic Science Centre since it publicly emerged three months ago that he had been referred to the NSW Medical Board Professional Standards Committee over alleged professional misconduct. He is still working as an expert for the SA Government.

James said that the Administrative and Information Services Department, which oversees the forensic centre, said Dr Cala’s work was being reviewed by his peers until the NSW Medical Board delivered its findings. [Of course, peer review should be a standard part of the work environment at all times]

James said that spokesman Greg Meyer said that measures to monitor Dr Cala were put in place after The Advertiser revealed he had been referred to the board following an investigation by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission. “The fact of the matter is that the NSW Medical Board case has not been heard yet and Dr Cala is still working in his normal capacity,” said Mr Meyer.

The medical board hearing was to have started in August, but had been adjourned until next month after lawyers for Dr Cala raised several legal arguments. [Apparently dealing with the issue of witness immunity]

James said that the inquiry will be examining allegations that Dr Cala wrote a post-mortem report based on the wrong brain results after typing an incorrect file number into his computer. He had conducted autopsies on the bodies of Sydney couple Bill and Pamela Weightman after they were found in their car in a national park.

It appeared that Dr Cala ruled out any suspicious circumstances in his report to Mr Abernethy, which was reviewed after the couple’s adopted son confessed he had suffocated them for an inheritance.

James said that in a ministerial briefing made public for the first time this week, Mr Abernethy said he had been “critically” misled by Dr Cala. “The State Coroner is dependent on police and forensic pathologists in carrying out investigations with due care and diligence. This did not occur in this instance,” he said.

Source: The Advertiser, 05 October 2006. p25 “Doctor ‘misled’ coroner”
Colin James Legal Affairs Editor

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