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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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David Bain's most staunch advocate
says New Zealand needs to take a look at its legal system. Bain has been serving a life
sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years for the murder of his
parents and three siblings in 1994. Joe Karam has broken the news to
his friend in Christchurch Prison that he no longer has convictions to his
name after the Privy Council quashed them. He says Bain was somewhat
dumbfounded when he heard the news. Karam says when he finally got his words
out he said "thank you Joe thank you". Karam says as a result of the NZ
system Bain has suffered a double tragedy, having lost his family and become
a victim of the state. He says authorities In New Zealand need to consider
better ways of dealing with mistakes when they are made. The Privy Council found a
substantial miscarriage of justice took place at Bain's1995 trial. In light of the decision United
Future leader Peter Dunne believes it is time to review the rules of evidence
and court procedure. Dunne says the ruling in the Bain
case raises serious concerns about the way evidence is presented to juries.
He says in the last decade alone, there have been questions about the
convictions of Peter Ellis, Rex Haig and others. He says the reality is the process
around evidence is far more selective than people are led to believe. |
