Rhonda Wheate PhD Student - completed 2007 School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences UNSW @ ADFA Canberra   ACT   2600 AUSTRALIA

Field of Study - Forensic Science

Supervisor: Dr James Robertson (Forensic Services, Australian Federal Police)

Co-Supervisor: Prof. Greg Jackson (Chemistry, PEMS)

Research Topic - Jury Comprehension of Forensic Science in Australian Courts

Australian Digital Theses Program:
http://www.lib.adfa.edu.au/adt/adt_browse.htm - Wheate

Brief Summary of Work

The Jury Comprehension of Scientific Evidence. This work examines (for the first time in Australia) the way in which scientific evidence is presented in court, to determine whether jurors are given the opportunity (or have the capacity) to comprehend and use the science in a reasonable manner. The overall aim is to identify and clarify the methods and principles behind the presentation of scientific evidence, particularly DNA profiling evidence, so that the integrity of the underlying science remains intact but is still readily comprehensible to legal counsel, the judiciary and the jury.

Selected publications/seminars

1. Wheate R, Wheate N, Lawful Dissent and the Modern Australian Defence Force, Australian Defence Force Journal 160 May/June 2003, p20.
2. Wheate R, Magnusson EA, Community Comprehension: DNA Profiling Evidence in Australia: A Bayesian Approach, 5th International Conference on Forensic Statistics, Venice 2002.
3. Wheat R, Expert Evidence: Law, Practice, Procedure and Advocacy (book review) 24, Sydney University Law Review 4, Sydney University, 2002.
4. Wheate R, Magnusson EA, Experts, Admissibility Practices & Jury Responses, Australian Institute of Judicial Administration Jury Seminar, Melbourne 2002.
5. Wheate R, Magnusson EA, Use of Scientific and Expert Evidence in the Australian Legal System: the perspective of forensic scientists, 16th International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences, Canberra 2002.
6. Wheate R, Magnusson EA, Scientific Evidence and Jury Talk: Finding the Nexus, Australian and New Zealand Biology Supervisors Advisory Group Annual Meeting, Canberra 2001.
7. Wheat R, What Makes Juries Tick? (What Ticks Juries Off?), ACT Law Society ("A Day of Crime in Canberra"), Canberra 2001
8. Wheate R, Magnusson EA, Mock Jury Comprehension of Standard DNA Profiling Statistical Evidence, 7th Indo-Pacific Congress on Legal Medicine and Forensic Science, Melbourne 2001.
9. Wheate R, The Use (and abuse) of Scientific Evidence in the Australian Legal System, Traffic Accident Commission Legal Group Annual Conference, Melbourne 2001.
10. Collins JG, Rixon RM, Aldrich-Wright JR, Interaction of [Pt(en)(phen)]²⁺ and [Pt(en)(phi)]²⁺ with the Hexanucleotide d(GTCGAC)₂ Evidence for Minor Groove Binding, Inorganic chemistry 39(19), 2000, pp. 4377 - 4379.
11. Rison RM, Greguric I, Aldrich-Wright JR, Collins JG, Inert Platinum Complexes as Potential Anti-Cancer Agents, Mar 1999, 8th International Symposium on Pt & Other Metal Coordination Compounds in Cancer Chemotherapy, Oxford 1999.
12. Rixon RM, DNA Binding Preferences of Square-Planar Metallointercalators, Honors Thesis 1998.
13. Rixon RM, DNA Interactions of Square-Planar Metallointercalators, RACI Inorganic Division Conference, Wollongong 1998.