Why You Should Care
A friend of mine was recently vilified in the media following the death of a 21-year-old Filipino man, Jerwin Royupa, who exited a moving vehicle and later died from his injuries.
In the days and weeks that followed, headlines hardened quickly. Language normally reserved for criminal findings was used long before any criminal court had examined the facts. Public judgment formed in real time, without access to evidence, testimony, or legal process.
There was, however, a formal legal process.
The circumstances of Jerwin Royupa’s death were examined in a coronial hearing conducted by the NSW State Coroner’s Court. A coronial court exists to determine the cause and circumstances of death. It does not determine criminal guilt. It does not convict. It does not assign liability.
That distinction matters.
Yet in public discourse it is often blurred. A coronial inquiry becomes framed as a trial. A referral is reported as a conclusion. Allegations are repeated as if they were findings.
This is not unique to this case. It is a pattern.
When complex legal matters are filtered through headlines and commentary, the law is no longer the arbiter of truth. Narrative is. And once a narrative takes hold, facts struggle to be heard at all.
This article is not written to defend any individual, nor to diminish the grief of a family who lost a son. It is written to explain why trial by media should concern everyone, regardless of where sympathy naturally falls.
Because once judgment is delivered publicly, before evidence is tested and before law has spoken, due process becomes collateral damage.
And when due process erodes, it never does so selectively.
What the Media Didn’t Report
Based on the Coronial Transcripts
Public reporting focused heavily on narrative framing. The coronial transcripts, however, reveal several material facts and procedural limits that received little or no attention.
A coronial inquest is not a criminal trial
The court’s role was limited to examining the cause and circumstances of death. It could not determine criminal guilt or liability. Despite this, reporting frequently implied criminal conclusions the court was not empowered to make.
Key witnesses were lawfully excused from giving evidence
Multiple witnesses objected to giving evidence on the grounds of self-incrimination, including exposure to foreign criminal proceedings. The Coroner accepted those objections under statute and excused the witnesses.
This was lawful, not evasive.
That context was largely absent from reporting.
Limits on compulsion were acknowledged by the court
The Coroner noted that any certificate issued would not protect witnesses from prosecution outside Australia. As a result, the court could not compel certain evidence. This shaped what could lawfully be heard.
Police evidence acknowledged investigative limits
Evidence included admissions that specialist crash investigators were not engaged at the time, that the investigation focused narrowly on the roadside incident, and that broader employment and visa matters were referred elsewhere.
These acknowledgements were part of the record, but rarely reflected in reporting that suggested investigative certainty.
No criminal findings were made
At no point did the Coroner make findings of criminal guilt or determine that offences had occurred. Any referral to police was procedural, not determinative.
This is how trial by media occurs:
not through fabrication, but through selective omission.
What Actually Happened
A Factual Summary Based on the Coronial Record
On 14 March 2019, Jerwin Royupa, aged 21, was travelling in a vehicle on a rural road in New South Wales.
At some point during that journey, he exited the moving vehicle and sustained catastrophic injuries. He was found lying partly on the roadway and partly off it. Emergency services were called.
Paramedics arrived within minutes. Jerwin was unresponsive but breathing and had a pulse. His injuries were assessed as severe. He was airlifted to hospital, where he later died.
Those facts were not in dispute.
Evidence before the Coroner included statements from first responders and paramedics, along with accounts attributed to occupants of the vehicle. The investigating officer accepted that exiting a moving vehicle is unusual and that understanding why Jerwin exited the vehicle was a central unanswered question.
There was no evidence before the Coroner that Jerwin was physically pushed from the vehicle.
The initial police investigation focused on the mechanics of the incident and whether there was evidence of collision, mechanical failure, or physical force. Specialist crash investigators were not engaged at the time, a decision later acknowledged in evidence.
The investigating officer formed the opinion, based on the information available to him, that Jerwin exited the vehicle by his own actions and that the death was not the result of a criminal act at the roadside. This was expressed as opinion, not as a criminal finding.
Evidence was also given regarding Jerwin’s visa status, employment and training arrangements, and communications with family prior to his death. These matters were referred to other authorities because they fell outside the immediate scope of the roadside investigation.
The Coroner heard evidence acknowledging that these broader circumstances may have been relevant to understanding Jerwin’s state of mind, but they were not matters the coronial court could determine as criminal conduct.
The coronial process examined how Jerwin came to be injured, what occurred at the scene, and whether there were investigative or systemic issues. It did not conduct a criminal trial. It did not determine guilt. It did not assign liability.
The Unreported Consequences
As a result of this tragic event, my friend and his organic winery’s reputation has been left in tatters.
Before any criminal charge, before any court process, public judgment had already settled. Media framing hardened. Online commentary escalated beyond criticism into intimidation.
My friend received death threats.
These threats were real and deeply unsettling. They arrived in the absence of any criminal finding and outside any judicial process. The stress has been immense.
None of this brings back a young man’s life. None of it assists a grieving family. And none of it advances justice.
I have supported my friend through this period because public vilification is not accountability. It is punishment without trial.
If my friend is to be charged criminally, he is entitled to his day in court. Evidence should be tested there, not in headlines, not in comment sections, and not through fear.
At present, there is no criminal case to answer in relation to the death. That is not opinion. It is the current procedural reality.
Why We All Should Care
Most people will never find themselves at the centre of a coronial inquiry or a media storm. Yet the way stories like this are told affects everyone.
When narrative overtakes process, any one of us can be judged before being heard. When allegations are treated as conclusions, trust in fairness quietly erodes. And when public pressure replaces legal restraint, the protections that exist for all of us weaken.
Trial by media does not usually begin with malice. It often grows from urgency, emotion, and the desire to make sense of tragedy. But its consequences are real. Reputations can be destroyed. Families can be harmed. Fear can replace reason.
Caring about this is not about choosing sides. It is about remembering that justice is meant to be deliberate, not reactive. That facts deserve time. And that compassion should extend to all who are touched by loss, scrutiny, and uncertainty.
If we allow process to be bypassed when emotions are high, we weaken it for moments when we may need it ourselves.
That is why we should all care.
Closing
My condolences go to the family of the young man who lost his life. His death was a tragedy, and nothing written here is intended to lessen the depth of that loss.
I also want to express my love and support for my friend and his family, who have been living through this in their own way. The weight of grief, public attention, and fear has taken a real toll, and I have witnessed the strain it has placed on them.
I know them as good people, guided by care for the land, their community, and the life they share through their work. That does not determine legal outcomes, nor should it. But it does matter when remembering that real people exist on all sides of this story.
My hope is that space can be held for compassion, fairness, and due process, so that truth can emerge without further harm.
By Dawn Kelly, Founder of the Inner Compass – Guiding you to align with the highest expression of your true self.
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