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The
Press
November 18, 1997
Petition for Ellis pardon close to presentation
by Hans Petrovic
The lawyer for convicted creche worker Peter Ellis, Judith Ablett-Kerr QC,
expects her petition for a pardon for Ellis 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 which she hoped to have with the Governor-General
within the next two weeks.
The Solicitor-General, John McGrath, QC, said yesterday that 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 be approaching the Minister of Justice.
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