YEAR IN REVIEW: COURT
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Towards the end of 2018 the ACT Courts were dominated by cases concerned with the ongoing argument around national security and secrecy laws and that trend continued throughout 2019.
One of Canberra's most high-profile characters also made a return to the courts and secured a big pay day.
And despite Canberra's reputation as one of the safest cities in the country, the court received its fair share of murder cases.
Here is a summary of some of Canberra's biggest court and crime stories for 2019.
David Eastman's compensation
David Eastman spent almost 20 years locked up for the 1989 murder of Canberra's police chief Colin Winchester.
It would be easily Canberra's most high profile crime and trial, and it seemingly all came to an end this year when Mr Eastman was awarded $7 million for wrongful conviction.
It's hard to find a Canberran without an opinion about what happened the night Mr Winchester was shot, but ultimately a jury found Mr Eastman not guilty of the crime. And the courts determined he deserved compensation for the two decades he lost behind bars.
National security takes centre stage
A year after the former spy Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery were charged over the exposure of an Australian bugging operation on the tiny nation of East Timor, the pair parted ways.
It took a multitude of hearings to determine whether the case will be able to be heard in open court or in secret and we got a hint that some major international figures including Jose Ramos-Horta and Xanana Gusmao would be called to give evidence.
Canberra's secret prisoner
While the country argued about what should and shouldn't be kept from the public under ambiguous national security laws and protections for whistleblowers, Canberra featured heavily.
In November, citizens, including the minister responsible for the territory's jail, were shocked to learn a man known only by the court given name Alan Johns, was locked up under secret charges.
The case only came to light when the man complained to the court about his cell and his brother's home being raided.
A family affair
Melissa, Bjorn and Thorsten Beowulf were accused of murdering the family matriarch Katherine Panin in their Red Hill home for her money.
Recordings played to the court showed the level of in-fighting in the family where in one instance they discussed throwing Ms Panin's ashes in the bin.
But as the dirty laundry was aired it became clear there was not a strong prosecution case and the three accused were eventually found not guilty.
Killings in the national capital
The parents of slain artist Eden Waugh finally got some closure when one of the men accused of killing their son was sentenced to 40 years behind bars.
Peter Forster-Jones, 24, shot Mr Waugh through the front door of his Watson home before callously stepping over his body to ransack his home.
The court also heard this year from the family of Bobby Stuart Allan who were left heartbroken when he was savagely beaten by "three evil monsters".
Graeme Jarrett Vickerstaff, 47, Dean Phillip Welsh, 50, and Colin Maxwell Booth, 35, will all spend years behind bars for their role in the bashing which left Mr Allan crawling up his Rivett street and dying on a neighbour's doorstep.
The Canberra water skiing community was left shocked when stalwart, 82-year-old Richard Cater, was allegedly beaten and killed by a teenager as he pulled into the driveway of his Palmerston home.
And in March 56-year-old Jae-Ho Oh was allegedly murdered in his home by his friend Joshua Higgins. Mr Higgins will fight the charge in the Supreme Court next year.
A painful journey
In July, we heard the heart-breaking story of how, when the time came, Neil O'Riordan helped his wife Penelope Blume, struck down with the debilitating effects of motor neurone disease, to end her life.
ACT Police conducted their investigation and a criminal charge was laid against Mr O'Riordan.
However, ACT Director of Public Proscutions Shane Drumgold decided it did not serve the public interest to prosecute Mr O'Riordan and dropped the charges.
He made it clear however, that this did not provide a green light to mercy killings.
Changes at the court
The court itself witnessed a lot of change in 2019, other than the lengthy delays to the renovation that still sees large parts of the Supreme Court under construction.
The territory's new drug and alcohol court began operation, taking eligible offenders and attempting to divert them from prison by targeting their drug and alcohol abuse.
This saw the territory's former chief magistrate Lorraine Walker elevated to an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court in charge of the new list and Glenn Theakston was elevated to acting chief magistrate.
The Magistrates Court also welcomed two new magistrates James Stewart and James Lawton.