Kathleen Folbigg was convicted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, and of manslaughter in the death of her fourth. Folbigg maintained her innocence and said the children had died of natural causes over a decade, from 1989-1999.
In 2019, an initial inquiry into the case reaffirmed Folbigg’s guilt. But in 2022, a second inquiry led by a former chief justice found new evidence suggested two of the children had a genetic mutation that may have caused their deaths.
Folbigg was released from prison in June this year after being pardoned.
“I am grateful that updated science and genetics has given me answers as to how my children died,” an emotional Folbigg told reporters outside a criminal appeals court in Sydney.
“However, even in 1999, we had legal answers to prove my innocence. They were ignored. And dismissed,” she said. “The system preferred to blame me rather than accept that sometimes, children can and do die suddenly, unexpectedly, and heartbreakingly.”
The legal system does shit like that all the time.
Lie detectors are fake yet used to get false confessions. Eyewitness testimony is one of the highest forms of evidence yet humans are noticeably terrible at remembering details especially in traumatic events. Word choice matters to the point of one misspoken word could cast doubt yet most people aren’t deliberately thinking about their word choice.
The legal system expects people to operate like they’ve been in the legal system for years and that’s just not how it works.