"Justice is expensive and

has a long gestation..." someone is quoted as saying in this morning's paper. 

He was commenting on the fact his brother's killer is still refusing to allow the body for burial. The woman in question has twice been found guilty of his murder and falsifying a will. She has used the money from the estate to fight her conviction as well as not allowing his remains to be released. 

Now she is attempting to take a case to the High Court. The grounds on which she is attempting to do this are uncertain. There must be something there which is worrying the court but nobody seems to be too sure what it is apart from those involved. 

Does she believe that withholding permission for burial will strengthen her case? Who knows what she is really thinking. We can only guess, despite her long criminal history, she is still attempting to say, "I am innocent."  

It has always bothered me that justice is expensive. People who have money, or have money behind them, are much more likely to be able to fight a case brought against them. It does mean that some of those guilty do manage to get out of a sticky situation if they have a smart barrister. There are innocent people who plead guilty to something because they do not have the money to do anything else. Yes, some of them may be involved in a situation but they are not guilty of the offence in question. It happens all the time.

There is new legislation with respect to wills and probate finally coming into effect in this state. Our family can only wish it had come into effect much earlier. It would have prevented a very, very nasty situation. I would not be looking for somewhere else to live under extreme pressure had that legislation come into effect much earlier. As it has been sitting in parliament house for more than eighteen months without going - quite literally - across the road for the governor's signature I feel upset. 

It might also have prevented this "black widow" from pursuing her case. It is a case which is clogging the courts when there are much more important things for the courts to be concerned about. 

Yes, justice is expensive. In the case of the "black widow" she should not have been permitted to use the estate money to fight the charges not just once but twice and now a third time. It has been ten years now since she was first convicted. At very least the body should have been released for a decent burial. 

There is something very, very wrong here. The gestation period is far too long.