|
Otago Daily Times
Tuesday,
18-November 1997
Lawyer to lodge petition for pardon of Peter Ellis
Christchurch: Convicted creche worker Peter
Ellis's lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, expects her petition for a pardon to
be with the Governor-General within a fortnight.
It remained to be seen, however, whether this would lead to an inquiry into
the composition of the jury that convicted Ellis in 1993, she said from
Dunedin yesterday.
TV3's 20/20 programme on Sunday night claimed that jurors failed to reveal
relationships with people involved in the case.
One juror knew the mother of one child complainant who gave evidence of child
abuse against Ellis in 1993. The juror had contact with the woman through her
live-in partner, who shared a small office with the mother, the programme
said.
The programme also reported that the jury foreman, a Christchurch clergyman,
had officiated at the wedding of the case's lead prosecutor, Brent Stanaway.
Mrs Ablett-Kerr said matters raised by the programme would be part of the
petition for a free pardon. Solicitor-general John McGrath, QC, said
yesterday he was not conducting an inquiry into the composition of the jury.
"All prosecutors are aware of their responsibility to ensure the
exclusion from juries of those with whom they have personal contacts of a
kind that might appear to create a bias in favour of the prosecution,"
Mr McGrath said.
"However, that did not mean every person with whom a prosecutor had a
past contact should be excluded or their presence on the jury reported to the
judge.
"An assessment had to be made on the particular circumstances, which
would include the nature and extent of the contact, and how long since it had
taken place."
Mr McGrath would not comment further because of the likelihood that legal
advisers would approach the Minister of Justice.
Ellis was controversially found guilty in 1993 of 16 out of 25 charges of
abusing children in his care.
The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against the verdicts in 1994, though
it dismissed three charges on evidence that the complainant concerned had
recanted.
Ellis has served over four years of his 10-year sentence.
Criticism of the police case included:
· Complainant children were questioned
using now discredited techniques.
· The questioning produced many
bizarre allegations which showed the children could not be relied on.
· Ellis would have had great
difficulty in committing the offences without being detected because of the
creche's layout and the number of people passing through it.
· The lack of any unsolicited
complaints about Ellis from children at the creche. - NZPA
|
