|
The Southland Times
February 23 2002
Hood challenges system
Book Review of A City
Possessed by Lynley Hood
Reviewed by Chris Chilton
A City Possessed: The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case
by Lynley Hood Publisher:
Longacre Press RRP: $59.95
Lynley Hood's book is important because of its challenge to New Zealand's
judicial system.
Whether you believe Peter Ellis performed the sex crimes against Christchurch children
that he was found guilty of in 1993 is barely as relevant as the questions
Hood asks about the fallibility of the process that convicted him.
At the very least, A City Possessed
presents a compelling argument that the process is as fallible as the humans
who devise and uphold it.
This is a big, weighty book, and at times Hood's attention to fine detail
interrupts the narrative's momentum. For the most part, the minutiae is
necessary to support her argument that Ellis was made a scapegoat to break
the fever of a conservative city that had become gripped by old-fashioned
hysteria.
There are fleeting lapses in journalistic objectivity when Hood's irritation
with some of the key characters is pointedly revealed, but these are merely
exclamation marks in what is an otherwise meticulous analytical dissection of
the Ellis case.
Time and distance from the alleged events allow for a more objective,
rational perspective, divorced from the witch-burning mentality that did in
Peter Ellis. Hood's book provides the background, the context and a wealth of
evidence the jury members never heard. Had they heard it, there is ample
cause to speculate that the charges against Ellis would not have been found
proved beyond reasonable doubt.
|
