May 24, 2025
A former Tingoora resident has had her two convictions of unlawfully stalking former South Burnett councillor Scott Henschen set aside.
However, no new date has been set for any possible retrial in the Brisbane District Court.
Judith Ann Schulz was sentenced to 18 months’ jail by Judge Loury KC in the Brisbane District Court on December 9 last year after a three-week trial.
A jury found her guilty of two counts of unlawful stalking – relating to alleged incidents in 2020 and 2021 – but found her not guilty of attempted extortion.
A parole release date of July 9, 2025, was set.
Schulz, represented by Legal Aid Queensland, immediately lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court.
Three Supreme Court judges examined the matter and published their orders on May 16.
They ruled that the appeal be allowed, the verdicts of guilty be set aside and a new trial be held.
The basis of the appeal was linked to jury communications to the trial judge late in the hearing.
These notes, connected to issues which allegedly arose in the jury room, led to an application by defence counsel for the jury to be discharged.
However, Judge Loury refused this application and instead discharged a single juror.
The refusal of this application was not challenged in the appeal, however the discharge of the single juror, who had reportedly expressed dissenting views to the other jurors, was.
“A fair-minded observer might have perceived the discharge of this particular juror as the removal of a potentially dissenting voice before she had a chance to change her view, or before she had the chance to change the view of the other members of the jury,” the appeal judges found.
The appeal judges – Judge C.J. Bowskill, Judge J.A. Bradley and Judge J. Callaghan – found that discharging the juror concerned an important element of a fair trial, and a miscarriage of justice had occurred.
Schulz, a web designer, was Mr Henschen’s campaign manager at the 2020 Council election but afterwards had a very public falling out.
She was arrested and charged by detectives from Murgon CIB in May 2021.
Mr Henschen recontested the Division 6 council seat at the 2024 election but was defeated.
