The Christchurch Civic Creche Case
	News Reports Index
	1999 July-Dec
	The Evening Post July 9 1999 Decision some time off - Ellis judges NZPA The Court of Appeal will take a "considerable time" to consider Peter Ellis' appeal against his 1993 convictions for child abuse. At the end of the hearing yesterday, president of the court Sir Ivor Richardson said the judges would take "a considerable time" to carefully consider the material before it, and would deliver its judgment "in due course". Ellis was convicted of 13 sexual abuse counts against children at Christchurch Civic Creche. This is his second appeal. Ellis' lawyer Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, urged the five-judge appeal bench to take a "liberal approach". "Because it's important that justice be seen to be done and that's what this court is really about - about justice," she said. Crown lawyer Simon France said the dangers of mass allegations, such as credibility of children and their openness to suggestion, were known. The dangers were explored during the depositions hearings and the trial, he said. "The whole cross-examination (of expert evidence) shows awareness of the issue." The formal record of the court showed the type of questions put to witnesses, he said. "The court was aware of the dangers and was addressing them," Mr France said. However, Justice Tipping said that if the experts had any concerns about the risks but the jury did not know of those concerns, then the dangers were underestimated. Mr France said the jury was not only advised of the risk that the children were open to suggestion, but also had evidence of that suggestibility before them. The defence, led by Ms Ablett-Kerr, earlier said research into children's development was far more advanced now than in the early 90s. Mr France said this had no bearing on the case. "Given what was known and done then and now known today, was it of such a nature that all those involved in the process did not really understand that danger?" He said if the court accepted that, it also had to be confident the research would not change again in the future. He disputed the defence assertion that one child had recanted and that she made the allegation only because her mother wanted her to. "(The child) denied she had . . . done it to please her mother," he said.