Court hears claims Gordon Wood asked to see dead model's breasts 'not true'

A statement to police that Gordon Wood had asked to see the breasts of his dead model girlfriend Caroline Byrne as she lay in a morgue was false, a court has heard.

Mr Wood, a former chauffeur for high-profile stockbroker Rene Rivkin, was charged over Ms Byrne's death after her body was found at the base of notorious Sydney suicide spot The Gap in mid-1995.

He was found guilty of murder in 2008 but the conviction was quashed four years later and he is now pursuing damages in the NSW Supreme Court over the wrongful conviction.

His lawyer Bruce McClintock SC said on Tuesday a morgue attendant's statement to police claiming Mr Wood had asked police "Do you mind if I see her tits?' was not true.

"This was most damaging and totally false," he said.

Mr McClintock told the court the police investigation into Mr Wood was "flawed".

He continued his attack on the evidence of retired University of Sydney physicist Associate Professor Rod Cross, who was writing a book about how physics contributed to the police investigation.

Part of the original case against Mr Wood was that he threw Ms Bryne off the edge of the cliff.

Mr McClintock read an excerpt from Prof Cross's book that said "the fact that I didn't have experience in investigating a cliff fall didn't worry me in the slightest".

The court heard Prof Cross ran tests into throwing speeds and trajectories but Mr McClintock said they were not thorough and didn't match the evidence he gave in court.

"He suppressed evidence over tests relating to bench press weights and throw ability which were not conclusive," Mr McClintock said.
Mr Wood is expected to give evidence later this week.