Always Fighting: Criminal Defence Lawyer Bernie “The Attorney” Balmer
Australian True Crime
Bravecasting
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Melbourne criminal defence lawyer Bernie Balmer has represented some of Victoria’s most notorious identities like gangland matriarch Judy Moran, Mick Gatto and Mark “Chopper Read”, AFL and NRL players, past and present, and people you’ve probably never heard of, like the woman who stabbed to death the child she gave birth to, on an access visit, with the adoptive parents nearby.
He and his team are also known for representing some of the most vulnerable people, including children, who enter the court system each day.
Bernie is quite literally, a fighter - he was a boxer and has been involved in the sport, in and out of the ring, since 1966. Bernie, a country boy, even has an Australian University Heavyweight title. He boxed, nightclub-bounced and grafted his way through a law degree at Melbourne University.
On March 27, 1986 Bernie, then a young solicitor, was, fatefully, at the site of the Russell Street bombing just as the bomb detonated. He tended to young police constable Angela Taylor, who was fatally injured by the blast, dying in hospital weeks later. Bernie carried Angela away from the burning wreckage, comforting her until medical help arrived. The sights, sounds and smells that day have stayed with Bernie all these years - a dropped plate in a kitchen or the sound of a car backfiring will take him right back to the trauma.
Bernie and his law firm Balmer and Associates ( his lawyer daughter Anna works in the family business too), are known for their sense of social justice and he’s one of the highest profile, and respected lawyers in Victoria.
He’s the man you’d want to call if you find yourself in need of a lawyer.
CREDITS:
Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram here.
Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here and listen to her podcast Killer Content here.
Guest: Bernie Balmer
Producer/Editor: Lachie Flannigan
Executive Producer: Jacqueline Tonks
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We're bringing Australian True Crime live to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this July, |
| 0:04.3 | and I have to tell you that Brisbane sold out already. |
| 0:07.4 | Good for you, Brisbane, so we've quickly added a second show. |
| 0:10.3 | Now we can't keep adding more shows, so please make sure you get your tickets. Our special guests, |
| 0:15.2 | our forensic criminologist Santee Mallet in Brisbane and Sydney and the one and only Charlie Bazzina in |
| 0:19.9 | Melbourne. There'll be a Q&A of course so you can ask your own burning questions on the night but you have to book quickly. |
| 0:26.0 | The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. |
| 0:40.0 | They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging. |
| 0:49.0 | The following podcast contains content of a graphic violent nature and is not suitable for children. Russell Street was thrown into a scene of mass panic by the blast. |
| 1:13.2 | The first explosion went off just before one o'clock |
| 1:16.3 | when a car blew up outside the police station here in Russell Street. |
| 1:31.0 | There was a sound of one massive explosion. We were sitting in our office, our |
| 1:35.0 | eyewitness news offers just around the corner. The glass was shattered in the windows of |
| 1:38.9 | our office. After that there were several more explosions, the sound of properly fuel and the car exploding. |
| 1:45.0 | Russell Street was in a complete state of chaos for seconds. |
| 1:48.0 | Policemen, policemen, police women were screaming, everybody was in a state of complete hysteria. |
| 1:53.0 | Three cars were destroyed in the six explosions. |
| 1:57.0 | There was massive damage to nearby buildings. That was the 27th of March 1986, the event that came to be known as the Russell Street bombing |
| 2:19.2 | as it was reported that night on Channel 10 Melbourne's eyewitness news. |
| 2:23.7 | Regular listeners to Australian True Crime will know it's an event that features in many true crime stories. |
| 2:29.5 | Our friend and regular guest, former homicide detective Charlie Bazzina narrowly |
| 2:33.8 | escaped serious injury or worse on that day. You'll hear more about that shortly. |
... |
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