Otago Daily Times
September 21, 2001
Third World justice in New Zealand
by Dave Witherow
Dave Witherow is a Dunedin armchair
philosopher and environmentalist.
Ever since Arthur Allan Thomas was convicted
for murders he did not commit, justice in
The system is concerned with covering its tracks rather than ever admitting a
mistake, and justice is scarcely an issue. We may, as a number of economists
contend, be heading for
One of the more disgraceful recent episodes was the case of David Dougherty.
Arrested in 1992 and charged with the rape and abduction of an 11-year-old
girl, Mr Dougherty was finally released from prison after his second appeal in
1996. Fresh DNA evidence had demolished the original case against him - yet Mr
Dougherty remained in jail for two full years after that evidence came to
light, and was made to go through the unnecessary ordeal of a retrial.
Even after his inevitable acquittal, Mr Dougherty was shamefully treated, with
the Justice Minister Sir Douglas Graham refusing him compensation for the four
years lost from his life.
The Peter Ellis saga was another demented demonstration of comprehensive legal
dysfunction. Its demonisation of Ellis, through a welter of conflicting
"evidence", should persuade all sensible people to avoid like the
plague anyone in the least associated with the psychiatric professions.
A true 20th century witch-hunt (complete with fictional witches), the scapegoat
conviction of Ellis tainted everyone involved in it, from the amenable police,
right through to the frantic parents - who still somehow manage to believe that
their little darlings were repeatedly and spectacularly debauched in full view
of the passing public.
It is not even necessary to be convicted to get a rough ride from the forces of
law and order, as the unfortunate Wayne Montaperto discovered over a period of
14 years.
Identified by the police as a prime suspect in the murder of Teresa Cormack, Mr
Montaperto was attacked and brain-damaged by self-appointed vigilantes. He was
driven from his home and his life was effectively ruined, yet Mr Montaperto -
as DNA evidence would eventually show - had no involvement with Teresa Cormack.
Innocent or not, however, he shall get no compensation from Phil Goff, our
Minister for "justice". Compensation, it would seem, is reserved for
public figures and politicians whose self-images have been injured by the
printed word, or by remarks made injudiciously. Millions are available for this
kind of thing, but not for people who have suffered real loss and hurt, like Mr
Montaperto.
Sentencing presents another opportunity for gratuitous injustice. Murderers
receive less than robbers: rapists are released to rape again with indifferent
regularity.
In March this year, a woman received six years jail for thrashing her child to
death with a length of rubber fan-belt. A man, found guilty of stealing a large
sum of money, appeared for sentence the same day. Eleven years, the judge
decided.
Scott Watson, it seems quite possible, is in jail for 17 years because he might
be nasty. He liked to get drunk at parties. He said suggestive and unchivalrous
things, and he tried to pick up women.
He'll do, the cops concluded, and a case of sorts was assembled. Awkward
evidence was simply tossed away. A whole big yacht - seen by a number of
experienced sailors - was ruled by the police to not exist. It didn't fit, so
it didn't exist, and Watson was duly convicted.
David Bain remains in prison despite the growing mountain of doubt that Joe
Karam has put together. In a civilised land this contrary evidence would have
released Bain long ago. But this is hardly a civilised land, and releasing Bain
would mean admitting mistakes - which we don't do in