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The jury in the sexual abuse trial
of Ellis was found guilty of 13
counts of sexual abuse against children at the Christchurch Civic Creche in
1993. His first appeal failed, but he
was granted a second. It is being held before the full five judges of the
appeal court in Ellis's lawyer Greg King told the
court today the trial judge made an incorrect ruling when he said only
video-taped interviews which related to charges could be shown. Mr King said "the full
story" should have been put before the jury, including video tapes of
children making allegations that did not result in charges. He said the case was sanitised by
police when deciding the charges. Of 42 charges from 22 children,
only 28 charges from 13 children were indicted. Mr King said the jury in the
six-week trial did not realise the significance of the retraction of
evidence. One child, who was the first
complainant, recanted her allegations. At the trial, experts said
recantation was a normal occurrence. However, the defence said retraction was
unusual and should have been investigated. The child who recanted said she
had made the allegations because it was what her mother wanted to hear, Mr
King said. The relationship of one juror to a
mother of a complainant also affected whether Ellis was given a fair trial. One juror told the judge that the
mother, who was a witness, worked with the juror's flatmate. "This message . . . did not
convey the true relationship between the juror and her flatmate or the
working relationship between the flatmate and the witness," Mr King
said. The flatmate was actually the same
sex partner, and worked with the witness in a small counselling office. "The judge should have
inquired into this," Mr King said. |
