Philip Henry Napoleon Opas AM OBE QC was an Australian barrister.
17 Facts About Philip Opas
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Philip Opas was best known for his unsuccessful attempts to prevent the execution of Ronald Ryan, the last Australian person to be legally executed.
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Philip Opas was the oldest of five children born to Sarah and Joseph Henry Opas; his father was an accountant.
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Philip Opas was apprenticed to Roy Schilling as a law clerk and went on to complete the degree of Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne.
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In 1939, Philip Opas enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force.
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Philip Opas served in New Guinea during World War II and retained an involvement with the military after the war's end, serving as judge advocate-general and reaching the rank of air commodore in the Air Force Reserve.
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Philip Opas was admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1942, while on leave from the RAAF.
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Philip Opas read with Robert Monahan in 1946 and practised as a junior barrister until his appointment as Queen's Counsel in 1958.
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Philip Opas had a wide-ranging practice that included criminal law, commercial law and local government matters.
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In 1966, Philip Opas became the defence counsel to Ronald Ryan, who had been charged with murdering a prison warder while escaping from HM Prison Pentridge.
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Philip Opas was convinced of Ryan's innocence, believing it was impossible for him to have shot the warder at the angle at which he was shot.
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Philip Opas attributed Ryan's execution to political interference from the Victorian premier Henry Bolte.
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Philip Opas was prosecuted by Ninian Stephen but retained Richard McGarvie and Ivor Greenwood in his defence and had the charges dismissed.
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Philip Opas was disillusioned by the experience and left the bar for four years to work as group legal officer for Conzinc Rio Tinto of Australia.
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In 1939, Philip Opas married Stella Sonenberg, the daughter of a prominent criminal lawyer.
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Philip Opas was widowed in 2005 and died at Epworth Freemasons in East Melbourne on 25 August 2008, aged 91.
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Philip Opas bred racehorses at a property in Mathoura, New South Wales.