Centennial Towers Trial: Detective Admits Crown’s Star Witness Had Reputation For Dishonesty As Defence Exposes ID Parade Protocol Breaches And CCTV Time Skews

By Alric Lindsay

The prosecution’s case in the Centennial Towers attempted murder trial underwent a bruising cross-examination this afternoon, November 2, 2026, as a senior detective admitted under oath that the Crown’s star immunity witness possessed an established reputation for dishonesty.

In an explosive session before Hon. Justice Emma Peters, Detective Inspector Dave Barnett was systematically dismantled by leading defence counsel Annand Beharrylal KC and Rhiannon Sara Crimmins KC. The two King’s Counsel exposed a string of unmentioned database searches, identification parade protocol violations, an unexplained audio blackout during a suspect identification lineup, and significant time discrepancies in the police’s visual storyboards.

Pre-emptive Database Searches and ‘Oversights’

Appearing on behalf of defendant Jared Marvin Johnson, Beharrylal KC focused his opening salvo on a series of critical chronological contradictions in the police timeline. DI Barnett admitted that his extensive daily notes contained absolutely no mention of Johnson (a.k.a “Bubbles”) prior to April 24, 2025.  However, Beharrylal KC produced data logs proving the detective had run a targeted database search on the police Records Management system for “Jared Johnson” on April 17, 2025—a full seven days before the suspect was allegedly first named by the target witness, Jimmal Facey.

When asked how he was hunting for a suspect who had not yet been implicated in the shooting, DI Barnett was unable to provide a logical explanation, stating simply, “I can’t speak to that, sir.” He later suggested that his superior, DI Joseph Wright, might have mentioned the name “in passing at some point.”

The defence then turned its attention to a marathon three-hour interrogation of Jimmal Facey conducted by detectives on January 13, 2026. Beharrylal KC revealed that despite an official photographic identification parade taking place just six days prior on January 7, the detectives completely failed to mention the lineup during the entire three-hour session. Transcripts read to the court showed officers guiding Facey with the phrase, “During interview you and another male… who we subsequently identified…” before re-running the suspect photographs.

DI Barnett dismissed the total omission of the identification parade from the interrogation transcript as “a simple oversight.” He further admitted that he was fully aware of Facey’s local reputation for being economical with the truth.

Allegations of Manufactured Evidence

The cross-examination turned combative when Beharrylal KC grilled the detective over an alleged breach of the chain of custody. DI Barnett claimed he observed two separate brown envelopes containing the identification photos, flatly contradicting prior sworn testimony from Officer Lewis Reid, who insisted only one envelope existed.

Beharrylal KC directly accused the detective of ordering Officer Reid to “reconstruct” an official forensic seal and manufacture a replica envelope to pass off to defence lawyers as the authentic, signed original. DI Barnett strenuously denied the accusation, asserting that he merely requested a technical copy of the photo spread.  He rejected this idea of re-creating an envelope to pass it off as an original.

The defence further squeezed the witness over a total audio blackout that occurred during Facey’s identification lineup. While the video recording functioned perfectly, the audio feed was entirely dead. DI Barnett blamed the issue on a spontaneous mechanical failure, comparing it to a car battery that unexpectedly dies without warning. “It is a machine, and machines break down without us knowing,” the detective argued.

Beharrylal KC then fired off a sequence of questions regarding the audio set-up.

He asked DI Barnett: “Where was the microphone?”

DI Barnett said that one mic was in front of the interviewer and one was in front of Facey.

Having received that response, Beharrylal KC queried whether both mics failed.

DI Barnett said, “Yes.”

DI Barnett then admitted to breaching strict police standing orders by personally entering the identification room—a practice forbidden to active investigators to prevent witness contamination. DI Barnett claimed an emergency “manpower shortage” forced his hand, though he conceded this staffing crisis was never recorded anywhere in his official investigation notes.

CCTV Time Skews and the Tracking of Austin Crawford

Taking over the podium for the late afternoon session, Rhiannon Sara Crimmins KC, representing co-defendant Austin Crawford, turned the spotlight onto the handling of digital forensic data.

DI Barnett acknowledged that upon his arrest, Crawford was fully cooperative, identifying the location of his mobile phone and voluntarily surrendering his personal passcode to officers. Yet, despite having unobstructed access to this evidence, the detective admitted he never personally reviewed the phone’s contents, choosing instead to pass it off to an outside data analyst.

Crimmins KC then exposed a major lag in the police’s review of the crime scene’s security footage. DI Barnett confirmed he attended Centennial Towers on the night of the shooting and was fully aware that several of the venue’s CCTV cameras were running approximately five minutes ahead of real-world time. However, the detective shocked the courtroom by revealing that no officer was assigned to review the footage until February 24—days after the incident occurred.

“Investigation is a rolling one. I had other matters to deal with,” DI Barnett stated, explaining that he did not thoroughly review the tapes to map Crawford’s movements until “around February 28.”

Frame-by-Frame Storyboard Discrepancies

The defence counsel concluded the day by forcing the detective to defend the structural accuracy of the visual storyboards presented to the jury. Walking frame-by-frame, Crimmins KC highlighted the intricate, manually adjusted time skews embedded in the police evidence.

The court reviewed figures demonstrating that cameras capturing the Centennial Towers driveway (directed into the car park) were running precisely 5 minutes and 41 seconds ahead of standard time. Conversely, cameras covering the North and South corridors that show images of Heritage Square were clocked at 5 minutes and 39 seconds ahead of real time. In addition, the cameras capturing ground floor east, being the corridor directly ahead of the Subway doors showing Jiffon Robinson and Denver Bright entering and Crawford leaving, were 5 minutes and 41 seconds ahead of real-world time. Lastly, the cameras capturing the convenience stores were 5 minutes and 39 seconds ahead of real-world time.

It is understood that DI Barnett manually calculated these time variances and compiled the specific video stills to trace the movements of Crawford, Robinson and Bright.

The high-stakes cross-examination was suspended at the end of the afternoon session. DI Barnett is scheduled to return to the witness box to face further questioning when the Grand Court trial resumes at 10:00 am on November 3, 2026.

Note to readers

The quotes featured in this piece were captured during live court hearings. Due to the fast-paced nature of real-time reporting, there is a possibility of minor errors.