I saved Corby from death penalty: Tampoe

Antara ,  Sydney   |  Thu, 06/26/2008 2:52 PM  |  Headlines

Schapelle Corby's Australian former lawyer says the Corby family should be grateful to him for saving her from a death sentence.

Corby, 30, was convicted in 2005 for smuggling 4.2kg of marijuana in her boogieboard bag that was discovered at Bali's Denpasar airport. She maintains her innocence but is serving a 20-year sentence in Bali's Kerobokan prison.

A documentary aired on the Nine Network, Schapelle Corby: The Hidden Truth, revealed a falling-out between Australian lawyer Robin Tampoe and the Corby family after the sentence.

But on Nine's A Current Affair on Wednesday, Tampoe said Corby could have been put to death for her crime and declared he felt no sense of responsibility for the Corby family's belief Schapelle would be released.

"Look, I don't feel responsible. I think, at the end of the day, I would feel responsible if we failed in terms of protecting her against the death penalty," he said.

When asked if he had been out of his depth in handling such a big case, Tampoe said: "No. I think you can see from the result.

We worked very hard with what we had, and we put forward a positive defense."

Other lawyers had tried and failed to reduce Corby's sentence, he said.

The Corby's and Tampoe fell out almost immediately after the sentence, the documentary said, with Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose expressing hatred for the legal team.

Tampoe said he invented Corby's defense that the marijuana was placed in her bag by a corrupt Australian baggage handler and described the family as "the biggest pile of trash I have ever come across in my life".

"I gave you a defense. I'll take it away. As fast as I gave it, I'll take it away," he said of the family the day after the sentence. Corby's final legal challenge failed in March, when Indonesia's Supreme Court upheld her 20-year sentence.

An appeal for clemency to Indonesia's president is Corby's last legal option, but it means she would have to admit guilt.

Her hopes of being released from prison have relied on the outcome of long-running negotiations between Indonesia and Australia over a prisoner transfer deal.

Corby was hospitalized last Friday afternoon suffering severe depression.

Tampoe no longer practices law. He works overseas as a business consultant, but Schapelle's sister Mercedes Corby has complained to the Queensland Law Society about Mr Tampoe's conduct.(**)

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