It was a woeful mistake by Frisby, as not only could he not say that Miller's confession was the product of bullying, but the jury would not hear the worst parts of it. Elfer was allowed to pick portions of the interviews where Miller did not accept exactly what was put to him, but avoid those that could shock the jury. He could even have the bullies testify that they had been 'firm but fair,' safe in the knowledge that there would be no effective cross-examination of them from Frisby, who even accepted that the officers were trying to get to the truth. Sadly they were not interested in establishing anything other than what they wanted to hear, but Elfer's strategy worked well at trial.

The confession was totally unreliable, but the jury was never given the context that had led to his admissions, which explained what he had said and why. Frisby called Dr Gisli Gudjonsson, but failed to use him to maximum effect. He also failed to call Dr James MacKeith to explain the effects of bereavement and anger on suggestibility. Furthermore, he did not commission Dr Olive Tunstall to put Miller's vulnerabilities in context and obviously he did not call Dr. Eric Shepherd to illustrate that Miller had been interviewed oppressively and unethically.

Consequently, Frisby could not get the jury to understand why Miller had agreed to some things, but not others. He gambled Miller's future on one card and played it very badly indeed. Miller neither confessed nor accepted what they said in the most oppressive interview. That came later – the following interview – so it did not appear to support the argument on suggestibility, but it did if put in context of the interviews as a whole and Miller's vulnerabilities. Frisby failed to do this, as Michael Mansfield QC later did exceptionally well at Miller's appeal. Frisby had let his client down badly and Elfer took advantage to help convict an innocent man. It was a terrible time for British justice, but good for Jeffrey Gafoor – the only person to benefit from the betrayal of justice that occurred in Swansea Guildhall in 1990.

by Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (December 29th 2008)