Khalid Baker, jailed for a murder he says he didn’t commit, has appeal rejected
Melbourne boxer Khalid Baker, jailed for a 2005 murder he claimed he did not commit, has had his appeal rejected by Victoria’s highest court after spending 13 years in prison.
Baker appeared in front of the Victorian Court of Appeal on Wednesday. The court ordered that his application be denied. After the decision was handed down he hugged supporters in the courtroom.
Khalid Baker in 2019.Credit:Justin McManus
Baker was convicted of murder after a jury found him guilty of causing the death of 22-year-old Albert Snowball. The court heard Baker, then 18, and a 17-year-old known only as LM were at a party in a converted warehouse in Brunswick when they got into a fight.
In the melee Snowball was pushed from a window on the first floor of the warehouse and crashed to the ground below. He died in hospital days later.
Because Baker was 18, he was tried for Snowball’s murder in the adult justice system. LM, who was months away from turning 18, was tried as a minor.
Baker has long maintained his innocence. LM – who cannot be named because of his age at the time – told police it was he who pushed Snowball, near the window.
But because LM’s admissions were not made in court, the judge overseeing Baker’s trial ruled they were inadmissible in Baker’s hearing.
LM was acquitted of murder. Baker was convicted and sentenced to 17 years’ jail, to serve a minimum 12 years in prison.
In 2010, the Victorian Court of Appeal rejected Baker’s application to appeal his conviction. The High Court granted him leave to appeal his conviction in 2011, but dismissed that appeal in 2012.
After being released on parole in September 2018, Baker went on to win two fights in quick succession.
In 2019, RMIT University’s Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative, which campaigns to clear the names of people it believes have been wrongly convicted of crimes, took up Baker’s case.
They appealed to then-Victorian Attorney General Jill Hennessy for judicial mercy, asking her to refer the case to the Court of Appeal, “with a view to an acquittal”.
More to come.
Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article