CLEARING, CLEAR THE CLUTTER, WHEN IN DOUBT THROW IT OUT!!

Guard's interview cash frozen
August 4, 2004 - 11:41AM


A Sydney security guard charged with murder has had money paid to her for media interviews frozen by prosecutors.
The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions yesterday obtained an order from the Supreme Court to place the money received by Karen Brown into a trust account under the Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime Act.
If Brown is acquitted of murder the money will be returned to her.
The application followed reports Brown netted over $100,000 in payments by the media for interviews before she had actually spoken to police about the shooting at the Moorebank Hotel in Sydney's south-west last Monday.
The 42-year-old Rooty Hill woman allegedly shot and killed William Aquilina, 25, moments after he attacked her with a knuckleduster and stole a bag of cash outside the pub.
But she raised the ire of the judicial system, and the public, when it emerged she had given two media interviews for money.
"In this case a serious act has been charged against Miss Brown, information has been obtained from the press and the grounds appeared to exist for the making of a restraining order against certain property," the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdrey, QC, told ABC Radio today.
He said the money paid to Brown was seen as "tainted property" because "it has come about as a consequence of commission of the offence".
The action against Brown can be appealed by her barrister.
Mr Cowdery hopes the ruling might deter media outlets from distorting the legal process by resorting to cheque book journalism.
"I would hope that it would act as a significant deterrent to others who might be minded to do the same sort of thing," he said.
"This Confiscation of Proceeds of Crime Act is a very powerful weapon in the armory of law enforcement. We don't hesitate to use it ... and we will continue to do so in circumstances of this kind."