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The end of the month will mark 10
years since Ben Smart and Olivia Hope were last seen alive at Endeavour Inlet
in the Marlborough Sounds. On the safe assumption that they are dead, it is
to be hoped that they rest in peace. Their ease, and the peace of mind
of those bereaved by their loss, was always going to depend on the successful
apprehension and prosecution of the person or persons responsible. But 10
years on, the double-murder conviction of Scott Watson is looking far from
safe. Persistent questions swirl around
the conduct of the police investigation and the subsequent prosecution. The
chorus of disapproval is increasing in size and gaining in volume. Watson's predictable protestations
of innocence have been supplemented by a growing groundswell of unease about
the conviction. The number of New Zealanders convinced of Watson's guilt has
dropped from almost 60 per cent in 2002 to barely 40 per cent now. That doesn't
mean he's not guilty; public opinion does not and should not decide such
matters. But neither should public disquiet
be ignored. Yet that, apparently, is what is
happening. Filmmaker and writer Keith Hunter's extremely disturbing book
Trial by Trickery is a patient and exhaustive analysis that forces any reader
to wonder how a clean-shaven, short-haired rum-drinker sailing a small steel
sloop (a one-masted boat) could be convicted of a
crime for which the likely suspect _ according to many eyewitnesses _ was an
unshaven bourbon-drinking man with wavy, medium-length hair who sailed a
large wooden ketch (two masts). Hunter has undertaken the most
thorough critique of the Watson case, but he is far from a lone voice. In this
month's issue of North and South magazine, a journalist who covered the
investigation and trial for the Marlborough Express newspaper, outlines
Hunter's thesis and expresses misgivings of his own. Other journalists
covering the trial were sceptical that Watson would
be convicted and astonished when he was. Gerald Hope, Olivia's father,
remains uncertain. reporter Jared Savage's revelations in
this newspaper over the past three weeks, and again today, only deepen doubt.
Michael Chappell, a police officer involved in the investigation says he and
colleagues were directed to ignore evidence that pointed to the ``mystery''
ketch and away from Watson. All this, it seems, is water off
the proverbial duck's back to Rob Pope, now Deputy Commissioner of Police, but
then, as Detective Inspector, the man who led the case. He says that
``there's nothing new'' in a book that he is reported to have returned
unopened to the author and adds, amazingly, that ``no one's given me any
great detail''. Whatever else may be said about
Hunter's book, it is not short on detail. And it is far from satisfactory
that Pope implicitly maligns Chappell's integrity while ignoring his claims. In terms of their public image,
the police have had a bad few years _ and the top brass, Pope included, have
much to answer for. Last week we heard that assistant commissioner Clint
Rickards would be allowed to resign, thus escaping being called to account
for behaviour which, his acquittal on rape charges notwithstanding,
was plainly unacceptable. Pope's dismissal of the allegations about the
Sounds case smacks of the same high-handed indifference to public opinion and
the importance of public accountability. Last year, former High Court judge
Sir Thomas Thorp, calling for an independent body to review miscarriages of
justice, said that as many as 20 New Zealanders might be wrongly imprisoned.
David Bain, yet to be retried for the murder of his family, was wrongly
convicted, the Privy Council said. The case of Peter Ellis remains an ugly
stain on the pages of our judicial history. It is not enough for Pope to
dismiss accusations that he has not taken the trouble to read. A police
force's effectiveness is in direct proportion to the esteem in which it is
held and that esteem diminishes in direct proportion to its willingness to be
accountable and open to review. It has been observed elsewhere
that Ben and Olivia's families are entitled to go to bed at night satisfied
that the right person has been locked up for their murder. The rest of us
are, too. |
