Rachael Ward and Emily Woods, AAP
Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn intends on appealing his conviction for the murder of camper Carol Clay and may make a rare application to delay his sentence, a court has been told.
The 57-year-old was found guilty in June of murdering Ms Clay at a remote campsite in Victoria’s alpine region in March 2020, but not guilty of killing her secret lover Russell Hill.
Lynn wore a black suit jacket, tie and blue jumper as he appeared before the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Friday for a brief pre-sentence hearing.
His barrister Dermot Dann KC flagged Lynn’s appeal due to a number of concerns about the guilty verdict but a formal application has not yet been submitted.
“He maintains his innocence in respect of the murder charge he was found guilty of,” Mr Dann told the court.
“He maintains that he’s never killed any person at any time, at any place, anywhere, ever.
“We submit that the long-term future of the guilty verdict must be seen as being in grave doubt.”
He said the first part of their appeal would centre on claims the prosecution conducted the trial unfairly
Mr Dann said prosecutors had broken procedural fairness rules more than 20 times by making claims about Lynn to the jury without giving him the opportunity to respond.
“It’s beyond argument that one side has acted unfairly,” he said.
He said there were inconsistencies in how the jury reached the two verdicts and an “unsafe verdict” had been returned.
Mr Dann then flagged his intention to seek a rare legal move to delay Lynn’s sentence under s309 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
“The law says such an application could only be allowed in highly unusual, highly extreme situations,” he said.
“That is an extremely rare application to even make and even more rare to be granted.”
Justice Michael Croucher said the application to stay, if granted, would delay Lynn’s sentence pending an appeal.
He said he believed he was the only judge to have granted such an application before, during an art fraud case involving Brett Whiteley paintings.
Mr Dann noted a lot had been written about his client since the verdicts were handed down, saying the “well of justice” had been “flooded with inadmissible material” the jury did not hear.
This included linking Lynn to other deaths, along with unsubstantiated allegations and gossip.
“The chances of any retrial being conducted fairly in the remote future are non-existent,” he said.
Further, he said public interest in the case had led to Lynn being placed into isolation in prison due to attacks from inmates.
“He’s now been publicly named as a target for other prisoners,” Mr Dann said.
Prosecutor Daniel Porcheddu said he was not in a position to properly respond to Mr Dann’s proposals but would make written submissions.
“If a s309 application is going to be made, there should be some warning given to the prosecution,” he said.
Mrs Clay, 73, and Mr Hill, 74, went missing from Bucks Camp in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20, 2020.
Lynn pleaded not guilty, claiming the two deaths were accidental.
He admitted burning the crime scene and destroying their bodies, which were later found in small fragments along the Union Spur Track near Dargo.
Victim impact statements from members of Ms Clay’s family will be read out when Lynn next returns to court on September 12.
He is facing a maximum penalty of life in prison for the murder.
