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The conviction of Ellis was convicted of 13 sexual
abuse charges against children at the Christchurch Civic Creche in 1993 and
jailed for 10 years. His lawyer Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC,
said in court today there was a "multitude of reasons" for the
miscarriage of justice, but she would focus on six. The appeal concerned the
techniques used to obtain evidence, the risk of contamination, grounds
involving retraction, the trial procedure, the jury, and the non-disclosure
of material. The five-judge court has set down
four days for the hearing. Ellis' mother Lesley and supporter
Winston Wealleans were both in court. Ellis' conviction was based on
evidence from the children at the creche, but Mrs Ablett-Kerr said cases of
"a mass allegation at a day-care centre" were very risky. "The evidence of children
should have been treated at the least with caution and at the best with total
exclusion," she said. Outlining her case, she said Ellis
failed to gain a fair trial as the jury members had a predisposition to find
him guilty. International experts said there
was a huge risk associated with a mass allegation of this type. The appeal is being heard by
Justices Thomas, Gault, Richardson, Henry and Tipping. |
