Court reviews conviction of man for Australian assassination
Updated
The man convicted for Australia's first political assassination has told an inquiry his legal team advised him not to give evidence at his trial.
Our reporter Jamelle Wells says the former Fairfield councillor Phuong Ngo was convicted of the murder of Labor MP John Newman who was shot in his driveway at Cabramatta in Sydney's south-west in 1994.
The conviction came after an inquest, one aborted trial and one hung jury.
A review's underway after questions were raised about evidence from witnesses and mobile phone records.
Phoung Ngo has told the inquiry he wanted to give evidence at his third trial, but accepted advice not to after his mother died in Vietnam.
He agreed with Andrew Colefax, SC, the Counsel Assisting that he 'just gave up'.
The review before former District Court judge David Patten is expected to last several weeks.
