NSW: Phuong Ngo supporter disappointed at conviction finding

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2009
NSW: Phuong Ngo supporter disappointed at conviction finding

SYDNEY, April 17 AAP - A key Phuong Ngo supporter has defended her objectivity in the
wake of a judicial report confirming his guilt for the murder of NSW MP John Newman.

After holding an inquiry into doubts raised about Ngo's conviction, judicial officer
David Patten concluded the case against him was now stronger than it had been at trial.

Ngo is serving a life term after being convicted in 2001 of ordering the killing of Mr Newman.

The MP was gunned down outside his home in the southwest Sydney suburb of Cabramatta
on September 5, 1994.

In his report, Mr Patten said the strength of the evidence available against Ngo was
"virtually ignored" by his supporters in their submissions to the inquiry.

He said he found Marion Le to be an unsatisfactory witness, concluding "she has wholly
lost objectivity".

"She seemed to me so absolutely convinced of the innocence of Mr Ngo as to be blind
to any circumstance indicating the contrary," he said.

But Ms Le told AAP she did not think she had lost objectivity, adding "I think I have
always made an intelligent assessment" about the case.

"I think I have been known to be a very good judge of character," she said.

Ms Le said many intelligent people who had expressed disquiet at the conviction, or
totally believed in Ngo's innocence, knew "the main players".

In fact, she said, she thought the inquiry lacked objectivity, saying it "became a
re-trial instead of an investigation".

"Instead of being about Phuong Ngo, it was about the DPP protecting their interest,
the police protecting their interest ...," she said.

She was disappointed at the findings, but she said "I was disappointed from almost day one".

"I still do not believe that the evidence stacks up," she said.

Ms Le said it made no sense for Mr Ngo to have ordered the assassination.

AAP mss/hn/jpm/mn

KEYWORD: NGO LE

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