Women, courts and media
In June the British Court of Appeal quashed the life sentences for murder of two sisters.
In July 1992 Michelle Taylor, 22, and her younger sister, Lisa, were convicted of murdering Michelle's former lover's wife, Alison Shaughnessy. The affair between the husband and Michelle, which was alleged to have continued after his marriage, was the subject of the "sensational, inaccurate and misleading" press coverage.
Two years after the sisters were taken into police custody, a packed public gallery greeted with cheers and applause the ruling that the press coverage of the case had seriously prejudiced the sisters' chance of getting a fair trial. The sisters walked from the court free.
The prosecution's case was always flimsy: police withheld from the trial major discrepancies in the eyewitness account of two women running away from the scene of the crime; undisputed sightings of the sisters before and after the murder didn't allow time for them to visit the dead woman's flat; and, with the affair over, the motive was never clear.
The press coverage highlighted none of these questions, instead concentrating on the affair itself — implying if Taylor was capable of behaving "immorally", then she was capable of anything, including murder. The friendship that seemed to exist between Taylor and Alison Shaughnessy only added to Taylor's "villainy" in the eyes of the media, with headings such as "Judas kiss" and "Killer wept as she stroked her victim's hair".
"A composite picture of a ruthless and determined mistress who killed and showed no compunction or remorse" was the way Taylor's defence said the media portrayed her. The Sun had published a still from a video of the wedding which showed Taylor kissing the husband (hardly unusual at a wedding) under the blaring heading "Cheats Kiss". A series of headlines from the
gutter tabloid focused on Taylor's supposedly immoral behaviour, with the husband being presented as almost as much a victim as the wife.
This case is yet another example of how, in a courtroom, a woman's sexuality and "morality" come under scrutiny in a way no man's ever does. The focus on "the affair" between Taylor and the husband allowed normal requirements for evidence to be discarded. The daily coverage, often front page, convicted Taylor of murder long before the jury came down with its verdict.
"We will not say that by being released justice has been done", Taylor stated outside the Appeal Court "because we should not have been put in this position in the first place".
Having followed the case in England at the time, sitting here in Australia I added my cheer to the many in that packed gallery. After two stolen years and public vilification, the Taylors now have to try to rebuild their lives.
By Catherine Brown
Correction
The article in this column in our June 23 issue reported that the Institute of Criminology had issued a statement critical of comments by Governor-
General Bill Hayden at its national conference. This information was incorrect: the statement was issued by some members of the audience. Our article also stated that the Institute regretted its invitation to Hayden to address the conference. This was also incorrect. Green Left apologises for the error to all concerned.