Not-guilty Eastman’s huge compo bid

DAVID Eastman may be entitled to millions of dollars for wrongfully spending 19 years in jail for the shooting murder of a federal police boss.

An ACT Supreme Court jury yesterday found Mr Eastman not guilty of murdering federal police assistant commissioner Colin Winchester in 1989.

Mr Eastman, a former Treasury official, pleaded not guilty to the murder in 1993 but was sentenced to life in jail in 1995.

The conviction was quashed in 2014 over concerns about the original evidence and a new trial began in June this year.

Mr Eastman’s lawyers Ken Cush and Associates in 2015 filed a wrongful imprisonment claim, which was on pause until yesterday’s verdict.

Solicitor Sam Tierney said Mr Eastman could have the Australian record for the most time wrongfully spent in prison, but it’s difficult to estimate potential compensation.

“How long is a piece of string?,” Mr Tierney said. Mr Tierney cited a 2009 case where the WA government issued a $3.25 million ex- gratia payment after Andrew Mallard spent 12 years in jail for a wrongful murder conviction.

Mr Eastman’s lengthy retrial ended with gasps from the packed court, as the 73year-old said “thank you” to the judge after the verdict was delivered.

It took the jury about one week to reach a decision.