Alan Jones' hearing on sexual abuse charges may be stalled as his lawyers still await documents. The former broadcaster's legal team is now seeking direct contact with at least one complainant, claiming that critical evidence has not been delivered in preparation for his trial.
Preparations have been stalled by disputes over thousands of documents yet to be delivered, with his barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC telling Bankstown Local Court that the team is still awaiting "oodles of material" to be produced as a result of subpoena requests.
The court was told police had still not extracted data from five of Alan Jones' electronic devices, with Bashir SC saying "that is, in our submission, an unsatisfactory state of affairs." The former shock jock raised concerns about the legality of the search on his home and the seizure of the devices, which he claims are protected from disclosure by legal and journalistic privilege.
The 84-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 25 charges of indecent assault and two charges of sexual touching against nine alleged victims over nearly two decades when he ruled the airwaves, and he will fight the allegations in a four-month-long hearing starting in August.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Bashir told the court that thousands of pages of evidence had not yet been served by the police, including alleged "exculpatory" statements, with several of the 23 subpoenas issued by Jones' legal team still unresolved. His legal team has flagged they may apply for a temporary stay of proceedings, again delaying his upcoming trial.
Crown prosecutor Emma Curran argued police had served all of the evidence in their possession, but had not yet extracted data from five electronic devices seized during Jones' arrest. The suggestion that the prosecution was withholding any exculpatory material was strongly rejected by Curran.
The defence has received about 800 pages of material they believe is exculpatory of Jones, including eight witnesses who said they "saw nothing" of the alleged misconduct. The prosecution has previously indicated it will call up to 139 witnesses during the hearing over the allegations.
Magistrate Glenn Walsh ordered that the brief of evidence against Jones be served on his lawyers by December 19 and adjourned the dispute surrounding disclosure until the following year. Jones has denied all knowledge of the allegations, telling media outside of the court that he was "emphatic that I'll be defending every charge before a jury in due course," stating "these allegations are all either baseless or they distort the truth."