Palm Island death in custody

The 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of Palm Island, Queensland resident, Cameron Doomadgee (tribal name: Mulrunji) on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturbances on the island and a legal, political and media sensation that continued for three years. The Attorney General indicted an Australian police officer for a criminal trial for the first time since the public prosecutor's office was established. The officer, who was charged for a death in custody, was acquitted by a jury in June 2007.

Two legal questions arose from the death, firstly whether the taking into custody of Mulrunji was lawful and secondly were the injuries that led to his death illegally caused by the arresting officer.

Politically this event raised questions relating to the 1990 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and whether its recommendations to prevent deaths in custody had been implemented by Government.

Cameron Doomadgee, an Indigenous Australian was aged 36 when he died. The time of death was about 11:20am on Palm Island, one hour after being picked up for allegedly causing a public nuisance. Mulrunji was placed in the two-cell lockup which was the back section of the Palm Island Police Station. Fellow Palm Islander Patrick Bramwell was placed in the adjoining cell.

The arresting officer, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, and the Indigenous Police liaison officer, Lloyd Bengaroo, were flown off the island the following Monday after receiving death threats and Chris Hurley's house being burned down.

This was the 147th death of an Aboriginal person in custody since the handing down of the 1990 Royal Commission.

An autopsy report by Coroner Michael Barnes was produced for the family one week after the death. It stated that Mulrunji had suffered four broken ribs, which had ruptured his liver and spleen, it also found that the body's blood alcohol content was 0.29 from a cocktail of alcohol including methylated spirits mixed with sweet cordial. The family of the deceased were informed by the Coroner that the death was the result of "an intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by a ruptured liver and portal vein".

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Wikipedia