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Corby's lawyer says Gillard must do more
Kerry Smith-Douglas, the Australian lawyer representing convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby, has made an appeal to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to bring her client home. Smith-Douglas…
Lawyers Weekly
Kerry Smith-Douglas, the Australian lawyer representing convicted drug trafficker Schapelle Corby, has made an appeal to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to bring her client home.
In a statement released today (4 November), Smith-Douglas said the Government must do more than diplomacy. "Julia Gillard cannot continue to take the diplomatic route. She needs to understand the desperation and state of Schapelle and just get her home."
Smith-Douglas has been acting pro bono for Corby since she took on her case at the beginning of the year. She is demanding that the Government give the same level of commitment to Corby that she is currently providing.
"The time for talk is over - it's now time for action."
But action regarding a prisoner transfer scheme will not be enough, according to Smith-Douglas. "She's done more time for that crime than she ever would in Australia. Please Prime Minister - do whatever it takes to set her free and do it now," she said.
Smith-Douglas is considered a "flamboyant" lawyer in Queensland, according to the Courier Mail. She has represented clients including the accused triple murderer Max Sica.
She has also stirred her fair share of headlines - some centering around when she dressed as a police officer and arrived by horse to a mayoral candidates' breakfast at a Gold Coast hotel. She is reported to have also once turned up to a government conference carrying her pet rabbit.
When Smith-Douglas joined a fresh bid to free Corby earlier this year, she told the Courier Mail that she did not care whether Corby was guilty of innocent, that she had "spent enough time in that hell hole".
Corby's last Australian lawyer, Robin Tampoe, was sacked by the Corby family after they accused him of attempting to profit from the situation.
