

Witness prepared to lie: Eastman defence

A key prosecution witness in the case against David Eastman was prepared to lie under oath and had acknowledged doing so before, Eastman's lawyer has told the ACT Supreme Court.
Attacking the credibility of witness Raymond Webb, defence counsel George Georgiou SC told jurors they needed to carefully scrutinise Mr Webb's evidence.
He said Mr Webb admitted lying to police in his earlier statements and in evidence to the inquest into the death of Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Colin Winchester.
"The most you know about Mr Webb is that you need to scrutinise his evidence very, very carefully," Mr Georgiou told the jury on Monday.
Eastman, 73, a former Treasury official, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Winchester.
The Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner was shot twice in the head while parked in the driveway next to his Canberra home about 9.15pm on the night of January 10, 1989.
The court heard that police determined the murder weapon was a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle from two spent cartridge cases found at the scene.

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Police subsequently determined that the murder weapon had been sold by Queanbeyan man Louis Klarenbeek on January 1, 1989.
In his evidence to the trial, Mr Webb said he had gone to Mr Klarenbeek's home in response to an advertisement for some guns in the Canberra Times on December 31, 1988.
As he was leaving down the side path, he saw a man approaching.
"I though he was a bit arrogant. I had to move sideways or we would have collided," he said.
Mr Webb identified that man as David Eastman.
Mr Webb initially came forward in response to a police appeal for information about Ruger 10/22 rifles in late January 1989.
He said that was his civic duty to assist as one of the rifles Mr Klarenbeek was trying to sell was a Ruger 10/22.
Mr Georgiou said in neither of two statements to police nor in his sworn evidence to the Winchester inquest did Mr Webb say he saw another person as he was leaving the Klarenbeek house.
Only in late 1992 did Mr Webb come forward to say he had seen a man who he identified as David Eastman.
Mr Webb had not mentioned this to police earlier as he was afraid and also because he was taking time off work to look at guns, the defence counsel said.
Mr Georgiou said Mr Webb had sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth at the coroners court, just as he had in this court.
Yet he had shown he was prepared to lie on oath, and had admitted under cross examination that what he told the coroner would have been untrue.
The trial is continuing.
© AAP 2019

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