Quade Cooper trial - the result

[Lindommer]

Like the former NSW Minister of Transport who was filmed by Channel 7 attending an establishment called "Ken's of Kensington" which is apparently some form of gay man's nightclub.

Would that be your area of expertise, Hugh?

 

[I like to watch]

TOCC, these are not rumours it is a fact that he was charged with theft. it is a fact that it was mediated between the parties & the police subsequently dropped the case.
From a practical point of view, the Police will/cannot proceed without the support of the victims/witnesses, as without their attendance their statements cannot by verified & challenged by the defence.
I have no issues with QC (Quade Cooper), but I do have issues with the view that it is unfair on QC (Quade Cooper) for people to speculate...innocent until proven guilty etc.
Speculation always arises when information is suppressed.
As an aside,he was treated very leniantly by the ARU, fined $7,500 for bringing the game into disrepute by his actions.
Compare that to tearing up Lote's contract or Kurtley $5,000 for having a piss.
All will be forgiven/forgotten if he stars against the AB's & the Boks

 

[Gnostic]

Wasn't the "mediation" a formal Court deversion scheme which is a standard system in use in most Australian States to divert first time and youth offenders from the criminal system? That was my understanding of the matter and as such when the Diversion program was completed by Cooper to the court's satisfaction the matter was dropped.

 

[I like to watch]

That requires an acknowledgement of guilt first, otherwise there is nothing to mediate

 

[RedsHappy]

I believe in a society with free speech and so I think people should be able to comment on this, even speculate. I don't believe anyone in this thread deliberately spread malicious rumours - it's called debate and sharing of information. You take speculation out of the internet and you'll get left with porn.

Gagger, I believe in love, apple pie, free speech, human kindness overflowing. OK, that's over. Now we have to deal with the 'problem bits', humanity's less than fine moments, and the dark parts. This is why the pure vision of completely free speech, whilst it warms the heart, is naive and is never actually implemented in most societies, and, in most cases, thank goodness.

In this particular case IMO, and with due respect, you are being too generous here. There were/are posts in this thread that inferred that the Cooper outcome was in some way corrupt, not properly arrived at at all. Corrupting a judicial process is a serious criminal offence, people can sue for libel over that, and for good reason. And, as TOCC said, many posts were deducing negatively about Cooper and using the historical _media_ record on this matter and the mediated outcome to continue to 'suspect' him in various ways. Trying to raise the flag of equitable fairness and reliance upon the facts versus gossip and media speculation is not in any sense 'anti free speech', it is anti negativity-mongering against a person whom has been found guilty of nothing and whom, further, cannot himself respond here or elsewhere to that negativity.

A good example of the real complexity of this free speech issue is the perfectly reasonable debate that had to go on here re poofball mutating over to the less problematic diveball. And then just this morning you had to remind a poster in blog against personal abuse. And so on.

(And please don't get me started on 'speculation and the internet'. Anyone who thinks the internet has bequeathed little but wondrous new freedoms of expression to the global masses is mistaken. Everyday, I see first hand how, for example, the use of anonymous mass vilification amongst teenagers on (say) Facebook has hugely destructive impacts on their self-confidence and, worse, may send them to long bouts of severe anxiety and social retreat, affecting their studies badly and their happiness. I am not suggesting for one minute that you would endorse this, it's just that 'free speech' as an ideology must be tempered with the need to deal with 'the dark sides'.)

 

[RugbyReg]

Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

 

[daz]

And I believe I am going to be sick.....

 

[Newb]

great quote RR

 

[#1 Tah]

And I believe in the Waratahs. Boom.

 

[I like to watch]

In this particular case IMO, and with due respect, you are being too generous here. There were/are posts in this thread that inferred that the Cooper outcome was in some way corrupt, not properly arrived at at all. Corrupting a judicial process is a serious criminal offence, people can sue for libel over that, and for good reason. And, as TOCC said, many posts were deducing negatively about Cooper and using the historical _media_ record on this matter and the mediated outcome to continue to 'suspect' him in various ways. Trying to raise the flag of equitable fairness and reliance upon the facts versus gossip and media speculation is not in any sense 'anti free speech', it is anti negativity-mongering against a person whom has been found guilty of nothing and whom, further, cannot himself respond here or elsewhere to that negativity.

Redshappy, you are absolutely right, QC (Quade Cooper) was minding his own business having a few glasses of water with his mates at a bucks day. He was a victim of drink spiking and woke up having been charged by police for break enter & theft, the basis of the charge was clearly baseless. He decided to admit liability & enter into mediation to settle the matter quietly & cheaply. unfortunately the other party demanded confidentiality so that QC (Quade Cooper) could not enunciate his innocence & the background into the circumstances of why he was charged. he is clearly the victim in this,and no one has any right at all to speculate on anything to do with this.
The incident itself does not unduly worry me, it has been dealt with to the satisfaction of all parties. case closed
But all this bullshit about how DARE anyone speculate at all about anything to do with the nights events, because HE elected not to have his day in court is ridiculous.Despite what some of supporters have suggested, the costs of a defended matter in the local court to clear his name would be covered by the fine that the ARU imposed on him(that would have been reversed if he was proven to be blameless)
Your bit about cyber bullying is off track, i don't think many posters on this forum form part of QC (Quade Cooper)'s social circle.

 

[Moses]

Despite what some of supporters have suggested, the costs of a defended matter in the local court to clear his name would be covered by the fine that the ARU imposed on him(that would have been reversed if he was proven to be blameless)

Court costs may have been covered, however loss of income due to a guilty conviction preventing him from playing in Europe could come to slightly more..

 

[RedsHappy]

Redshappy, you are absolutely right, QC (Quade Cooper) was minding his own business having a few glasses of water with his mates at a bucks day. He was a victim of drink spiking and woke up having been charged by police for break enter & theft, the basis of the charge was clearly baseless. He decided to admit liability & enter into mediation to settle the matter quietly & cheaply. unfortunately the other party demanded confidentiality so that QC (Quade Cooper) could not enunciate his innocence & the background into the circumstances of why he was charged. he is clearly the victim in this,and no one has any right at all to speculate on anything to do with this.
The incident itself does not unduly worry me, it has been dealt with to the satisfaction of all parties. case closed
But all this bullshit about how DARE anyone speculate at all about anything to do with the nights events, because HE elected not to have his day in court is ridiculous.Despite what some of supporters have suggested, the costs of a defended matter in the local court to clear his name would be covered by the fine that the ARU imposed on him(that would have been reversed if he was proven to be blameless) Your bit about cyber bullying is off track, i don't think many posters on this forum form part of QC (Quade Cooper)'s social circle.

iltw, I believe you are misunderstanding me here. But it'd break Rule 9 to go on, so let's move on.
Btw, simply to clarify - my bracketed insert re cyber bullying and the free speech issue had nothing whatsoever to do with QC (Quade Cooper)'s social circle.

 

[Lindommer]

I think the time has come to agree to disagree about QC (Quade Cooper)'s innocence/guilt or anything in between. Could one of the mods please lock this thread.

PS. Maybe he WAS innocent, a victim of drink-spiking, but is too embarrassed to reveal what a goose he was being found in the wrong room. Hang on, pinching PCs? Why didn't he go for the DVD player or anything more valuable? Oh, I give up, I don't know.

 

[Gagger]

I read people questioning the fairness of mediation and getting a better understanding of what it entails. I don't see how you build that into libel.

And I banned that idiot because he had a personal shot at a poster, nothing to do with the law.

I take our legal exposure very seriously, as I do the idea of stifling debate about issues through threat of "illegality". Both are threats to the ongoing existence of this site.

Thread closed