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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Questions are being asked about
how New Zealand's highest court got the David Bain case so wrong. Bain was convicted of the 1994 killings
of his father, mother, and three siblings in a mass shooting at the family
home in Dunedin and is still in prison. The Privy Council in London has
ruled his convictions were a substantial miscarriage of justice and has
ordered a retrial. The right to appeal to the
London-based court was abolished in 2003, its role as New Zealand's highest
court being taken over by a new Supreme Court, which is in effect the former
Court of Appeal. Michael Guest, QC, who represented
Bain at his High Court trial, says the Privy Council decision raises
questions about New Zealand's highest court. He told Morning Report this
is at least the fifth Privy Council decision in the six years which has
rubbished the New Zealand Court of Appeal. Another lawyer who previously worked
on the case, Colin Withnall, QC, says that what the Privy Council in London
heard is basically what the New Zealand Court of Appeal heard. He said there's a determination in
New Zealand to maintain the belief that the system is infallible and that was
what the Court of Appeal did by rejecting the idea that Bain did not get a
fair trial. But he told Morning Report
that people should have more faith in a system that was prepared to say:
"We got it wrong." A prominent defence lawyer, John
Billington, QC, told Nine to Noon that the outcome should serve as a
wake-up call. He said the ability to take a case overseas and away from a
small society such as New Zealand was an advantage.
A spokesperson for the
solicitor-general says it is not known when a decision will be made on
whether there will be a retrial. Michael Reed, QC, who represented
Bain in London, told Morning Report that after 13 years in prison,
Bain should be just be released. He said another trial would be a waste of
time and money. |
