By Christopher Testa. ABC Far North. Topic: Courts. Madeleine Joan Lewin represented herself in the manslaughter trial. Supplied: Queensland Police Service. After three days of often graphic evidence, sex worker Madeleine Joan Lewin offered no explanation about what happened at the Sunshine Tower Hotel on the night Brisbane businessman Anthony Brady died.
The year-old, representing herself at her manslaughter trial at the Supreme Court in Cairns, sat at the bar table silently throughout the proceedings. She left her court files on the floor beside her. She did not cross examine any witnesses and did not give evidence or make a closing statement to the jury. It took the 12 jurors less than an hour to return a unanimous guilty verdict.
In instructing the jury before they began deliberations, Justice James Henry told them the fact that Lewin did not give evidence was "not evidence against her". The prosecution alleged Lewin, a sex worker, failed to ensure Mr Brady's health and safety during a consensual bondage activity on the evening of August 12, From the start, the Crown acknowledged its case against Lewin was circumstantial.
Supplied: QPS. Mr Brady's body was found face down on the bed with a hood over his head, and handcuffs and bindings around his wrists and legs. Some of the bindings were difficult for police to remove when they investigated the crime scene. A damaged SIM card Lewin had been using was discarded in the bathroom.
Evidence shown to the jury, including CCTV footage, suggested she left the hotel in a hurry. The court heard she walked a few blocks before catching a cab to a friend's house. On the way, she asked the taxi driver to take her via a fast-food drive-through outlet. The jury saw the exchange of messages in which Mr Brady arranged to meet Lewin at the hotel that night. There was a mention of "toys" in the messages but no clear indication bondage, or anything similar, was to take place.
