John Robert Marsden AM (3 January 1942 – 17 May 2006[1]) was an Australian solicitor and former President of the Law Society of New South Wales.

[7] He recounted an incident that had happened during trial on those charges: after the first day in court, during which Milat appeared likely to be convicted, Marsden - then a closeted homosexual - went to a gay bar and noticed the two alleged victims there.

The next day in court he outed them as lesbians and relied on the jury's prejudices to attack their credibility and win acquittal for Milat.

[8] In 2004, Marsden accepted an invitation from British/Italian lawyer Giovanni di Stefano to join Saddam Hussein's defence team.

Deirdre Grusovin, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, speaking under parliamentary privilege in 1994, accused Marsden of having sex with minors.

In 2001, after 214 days of hearings, Justice David Levine ruled that Seven had failed to prove its allegations of child sexual abuse.

"[18] In 2002, the New South Wales Court of Appeal ruled that the compensation payout should have included consideration for hurt feelings, and ordered a new trial on damages.

[22] "Judge Coorey overturned a decision of Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge, sitting as the Victims Compensation Tribunal and was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that compensable acts of violence by five men, including John Marsden had taken place against "X"...."[citation needed] Other accusers documented their own alleged abuse in other proceedings.

[4] In 1994, Marsden was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his service to the Law Society of New South Wales and the community.