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Waikato Times
July 7, 1999
Ellis' counsel tells of stress
NZPA
If the jury that convicted Peter Ellis had been aware of the extent of the
investigating officer's stress and his relationships with mothers he was
investigating "it would have made hay" with the information, the
Court of Appeal in Wellington was told yesterday.
In the second day of Ellis' second appeal against his 1993 convictions for
sexual abuse, his counsel, Judith Ablett-Kerr, strongly opposed opinion from
the bench that the competence of former detective Colin Eade was beyond the
scope of the hearing.
Justice Gault said Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys had declined to
review the competence of Mr Eade adding, "In the light of that, I think
you're overdoing it".
Mrs Ablett-Kerr replied: "My purpose has been to demonstrate
contaminating factors . . . if the jury had had (access to withheld
documents) they would have made hay with them.
"Detective Eade escaped relatively unscathed."
Mrs Ablett-Kerr referred to various documents not disclosed by the Crown to
the defence. In relation to Mr Eade, these highlighted his, at times, extreme
stress, and his "inappropriate" telephone behaviour with a mother
of one of the children.
She also suggested he might have been unqualified for a mass allegation case
of such scope as the Peter Ellis investigation.
Among other documents she said had not been disclosed was a police report
that showed police concern about parents reading literature on ritual abuse.
Appearing with Mrs Ablett-Kerr, Greg King argued that the evidence of the
eldest girl, presented at trial as the most uncontaminated, had been used as
a "yardstick" by the jury in accepting allegations of the others.
But the girl, 9 at the time, had subsequently retracted her allegations, and
had not changed her stance over nine years.
The appeal, before the full five-judge bench, is proceeding.
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