When the FBI Comes Calling…®
June 13, 2005
Inquiry may drive Patel underground
By Paula Doneman, Hedley Thomas and Amanda Watt
HEALTH inquiry commissioner Tony Morris, QC, risks driving Jayant Patel further underground by publicly announcing he faces serious criminal charges, a Brisbane criminologist says.
Tricia Fox said now that criminal charges, including murder, had been recommended, Dr Patel could avoid capture if he fled to a country which had no extradition treaty with Australia.
"Certainly the information has made news in the US and on the Internet, and he would be intelligent enough to know America would extradite as per their arrangement with Australia," Dr Fox said.
She said Dr Patel would want to protect himself against being prosecuted for offences which carried heavy jail sentences.
Dr Patel, the former director of surgery at Bundaberg Hospital, fled to the US in April amid allegations he had maimed and killed patients.
He has since been linked to deaths of at least 87 patients.
Dr Fox's comments came as a US-based extradition expert urged police to quickly arrest Dr Patel on the most easily proved offence, rather than wait weeks while they prepare a detailed brief of evidence.
Houston-based lawyer Douglas McNabb said additional charges based on more complex cases involving medical evidence and patient deaths and injury could then be filed pending extradition.
"Based on what I know about the allegations, the Australians right now have probable cause (of criminal conduct) sufficient to have a federal US judge detain Dr Patel without (bail)," he said.
Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson yesterday assured the public police were pursuing the matter as quickly as possible and responding to the interim report.
"But it is important not to compromise the investigation through undue haste," he said.
"I don't believe there has been any inordinate delay."
Mr Atkinson said police were responding to the interim report, including a recommendation that Dr Patel be extradited to Australia with the use of a provisional arrest warrant.
In his interim report, Mr Morris qualified the recommendation of a provisional arrest prior to extradition if police intelligence considered it to be "appropriate".
Mr Atkinson said it was inappropriate to divulge details of the police investigation into how they will locate Dr Patel and he did not want to compromise future legal proceedings.
Police have issued an international alert on Dr Patel's passport to monitor his movements.
Brisbane lawyer and civil liberties campaigner Terry O'Gorman said Mr Morris should have referred any criminal matters to the Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare for assessment rather than publicly recommend charges be laid.
Mr O'Gorman said allegations that had emerged about Dr Patel at the health inquiry were untested and therefore possibly inadmissible in court.
He said an extradition application had to rely on admissible evidence "as opposed to the argy-bargy that happens at the royal commission".
"I think it would have been more appropriate to follow the format of Tony Fitzgerald (who ran an inquiry into police corruption in the 1980s) where he referred all decisions about prosecution to a special prosecutions office that was set up," Mr O'Gorman said.