Olympic medalist Nathan Baggaley has asked to present his own pleas – without “incompetent” lawyers – in a court appeal against his conviction for a cocaine-smuggling plot.
The world champion kayaker and his younger brother Dru Baggaley were found guilty last year of trying to smuggle up to $200 million worth of cocaine into the country.
Nathan Baggaley is serving a 25-year prison sentence for his role, while Dru, 40, was sentenced to 28 years behind bars.
Olympic medalist Nathan Baggaley has asked to present his own pleas – without “incompetent” lawyers – in a court appeal against his conviction for a cocaine-smuggling plot. (Photos by Nikki Short/AAP)
Queensland Court of Appeal judges are yet to rule on the appeal against Nathan Baggaley’s conviction following a hearing in March.
But on Friday, the 46-year-old represented himself applying for the appeal to be reopened and told the Brisbane court his lawyers failed to follow his instructions.
He said it was “incompetent to say the least” that his lawyer had not argued certain points during earlier appeal proceedings, he said.
“Not once in the previous hearing did they use the words ‘false line of reasoning.’
“For my lawyer not to advance that argument and not even raise that point feels incompetent to me.”
When a Court of Appeal judge stated that Baggaley was represented at the hearing by “one of Queensland’s most experienced criminal lawyers”, Michael Copley, Baggaley replied: “I acknowledge that, and I can clarify here as well, I’m not here criticizing Mr. Copley.
Baggaley was convicted of his involvement in a drug smuggling operation. (new)
“I believe that Mr. Copley was not properly instructed by his juniors.”
Baggaley argued the trial prosecutor’s claim that he communicated or attempted to communicate with his brother at sea using the pseudonym “Thunderbutt” saying, “I’m on standby, ready.”
“I think there has been a misunderstanding of the facts about the whole Thunderbutt circumstance.”
During a sometimes heated argument, Judge David Boddice said Baggaley’s evidence during the trial had obviously been rejected by the jury.
The former athlete replied that he was in court to argue that the jury’s verdict was unreasonable.
But Judge Boddice said the Court of Appeal hearing was just an opportunity for Baggaley to “point out something new”.
The packages found at the time contained between $130 and $200 million worth of cocaine. (AFP)
“To put it in the vernacular: you can’t fire the dog and make your own boards,” said Judge Philip Morrison.
“You had a very experienced lawyer to run your appeal, so you can’t just do it differently because you think you could have done it better.”
The trial heard that Baggaley played an “essential role” in the attempted importation, buying the rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) used, a trailer and equipment such as a satellite phone and GPS system, all worth more than $100,000.
His brother was found to be “a principal organizer” of the plot and was recruiting another man, Anthony Draper, to go to sea with him.
Draper and Dru Baggaley set off on the RHIB from Brunswick Heads in July 2018, meeting a foreign cargo ship about 360 kilometers off the Queensland coast about 11 hours later.
Two of the men were arrested at sea. (new)
The men recovered discarded packages from the other ship, but on their return they threw them overboard when they were chased by an Australian navy ship.
Packages recovered at the time, along with those that washed ashore months later, contained 650 kilograms of white powder containing cocaine worth between $130 million and $200 million.
Both men were arrested before reaching the mainland and Nathan Baggaley was arrested almost a year later.
The brothers told the trial that the boat was for a whale-watching business they intended to start.
The Crown previously argued that there was no evidence of steps taken to establish the trading company, other than buying the ship.
The three appeal judges reserved their decision.