Legal Studies - Criminal Law – L4 – The Baden-Clay Investigation and Trial

The second of a series of lessons I created about the Murder of Allison Baden-Clay using evidence from documentaries, news articles and the 2017 book authored by David Murray.

The PPT began with a warm up activity for students to copy the definition of Manslaughter and Murder including information about the penalties for each offence under the QLD Criminal Code.

Following this – a key aspect ‘trial by media’ is introduced as the Baden-Clay case was highly publicised. There is an extract from an article that appeared in ‘The Conversation’ which suggests why it was so notorious. Information about the issues of posting information about cases on social media / the internet prior to the jury making a decision and the potential harm it can do to tainting a case is provided.

Info is provided about the police’s investigative process prior to arresting Gerard as well as how the arrest was conducted and what happened to his 3 daughters.

Also included are:

• Details about the initial hearing on 14/07/2012
• The lead up to the trial including the work performed by Dr Cordon Guymer at the Queensland Herbarium (regarding plant matter in Allison’s hair).
• The defence’s ‘suicide theory’ and the prosecution’s rebuttal
• The reasons behind the decision not to grant bail.
• The prosecution’s strategy for the case 10/06/2014
• How the jury was selected and cautioned
• The order of evidence presented by the prosecution
• The significance of Allison’s diary

A resource which I think Legal Studies / Civics teachers will find helpful. If you use it, and like it, please give me a positive star rating / review.

NB: My lessons have been designed for use in Australian classrooms and will often feature examples from Queensland legislation.