The Canberra Times has a report on Rebecca Anne Massey’s trial getting under way for the murder of Elizabeth Booshand at Charnwood shops in July 2008.
Mr Pappas told the jury that the two women lived in a “twilight zone” of drugs and crime.
He said there was no issue that his client had stabbed Ms Booshand but argued that she had never intended to kill the other woman.
Mr Pappas said Ms Booshand was fully conscious after the stabbing but underwent emergency surgery on her chest after being admitted to Canberra Hospital.
About 10 minutes into the operation she was declared dead, he said.
“Whether the death was caused by the stabbing or by some medical misadventure is a matter for you to decide,” he told the jury.
A brave new assault on personal responsibility by Jack Pappas. It will be instructive to see what the jury makes of it.