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Allegations of Sexual
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A judge who says "significant
resourcing problems" contributed to a haphazard police investigation of
a teacher accused of rape, has awarded the teacher $30,000 towards his legal
costs. In a judgment issued from Wellington
District Court yesterday, Judge Bruce Davidson said police and the Justice
Ministry should each pay the man $15,000. The award is $16,502 less than the
cost of defending the teacher. The Dominion Post understands a professional
organisation had paid the bill. The teacher's name and the school
at which he taught were suppressed. In June, Judge Davidson discharged
the man on all charges – two of rape, two of assaulting a child, and one of
indecent assault – without the jury having to deliberate. The discharges
amount to an acquittal. At the end of the evidence he said
that a conviction would have been impossible and wrong. The teacher had asked for $46,502,
his costs in defending the case. Judge Davidson said he was left
with a strong sense that police did not have any overall investigation plan.
Obvious lines of inquiry were not undertaken. The teacher proved his innocence
by producing four vital pieces of evidence. He said defence lawyer Paul Paino
could not be criticised for not giving the evidence to police. A difficult
decision had to be made if there was a risk that police could modify their
case to explain deficiencies. The teacher was arrested
prematurely, so that "the battle lines of litigation" were drawn.
If he had not been arrested, but interviewed, there was a strong possibility
he would have produced the evidence he had and might not have been charged,
Judge Davidson said. He found the police investigation was negligent "in
part", and even material known to police should have caused enough alarm
to make them proceed with significant caution. However, it was not the type of
exceptional case where bad faith or gross negligence existed, or that the
prosecution should never have been brought, justifying an award to cover all
the teacher's costs. |
