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This page last
updated April 2 2006
2006-0331 - Newstalk ZB - Jury
asks question
14:24 - The jury in the historical rape charge trial has asked the judge
whether it has to believe all of a witness's evidence. The jury has returned
to court to ask whether it is obliged to accept or reject all of a witness'
evidence and whether it can find some parts credible and not others. Justice
Randerson says the jury can decide which parts of a witness' testimony it
believes but he says if jurors reject some of what a person says, they must
ask themselves whether that causes them to have reasonable doubt about the
rest of that evidence
2006-0331 - Southland
Times - Rickards' son to play rugby in south
by Nathan Burdon - Embattled Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards' son
Willie Rickards will play rugby for Southland this season. Rickards was a
member of the Auckland sevens team that competed at this year's national
tournament in Queenstown. Rickards was due to have arrived in Invercargill
but has stayed in Auckland to support his father during the three-week trial.
2006-0331 - One News - Jury to
resume for third day
The jury that is set to determine the fate of one of the country's most
senior police officers will on Friday enter its third day of deliberations in
the high profile rape case
2006-0331 - NZ Herald - Jury in
third day of police rape case deliberations
Defendants
Jurors were today starting a third day of deliberations in the rape case
against Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and former police
colleagues Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton.
2006-0331 - Dominion Post -
Nicholas jury into third day
The jury considering sex charges against Assistant Commissioner Clint
Rickards and two former police officers will start its third day of
deliberations today.
2006-0331 - Newstalk ZB - Third
day of deliberations today
The jury in the Nicholas rape case will begin a third day of deliberations
this morning at the High Court in Auckland
2006-0330 - Newstalk ZB -
Nicholas police rape jury retires
21:12 - The jury in the Louise Nicholas historical rape trial has retired for
the night.There's still no verdict on allegations that a top policeman and
two former colleagues raped the Rotorua woman 20 years ago
2006-0330 - One News - Nicholas
jury out for second night
The jury in the Louise Nicholas rape trial retired just before 9pm on
Thursday without delivering a verdict. Earlier the jury requested a full
transcript of the judge's summing up, but Justice Randerson told them it was
not complete and that he could repeat any legal directions they needed from
it.
2006-0330 - Newstalk ZB -
Lawyers see judge in rape case
16:52 - Lawyers on both sides in the historical rape trial at the High Court
in Auckland have been called in to see the judge - with the news media
excluded
2006-0330 - NZ Herald - Police
rape jury asks for judge's summing up
12:35 - The jury in the police rape case has this morning asked the judge for
a transcript of his summing up following almost a day of deliberation.
Justice Tony Randerson agreed to them seeing his legal direction but not the
entire transcript.
2006-0330 - Newstalk ZB - Jury
still out in rape case
11:56 - There is still no word from the jury in the historical rape charges
trial at the High Court in Auckland
2006-0330 - The Press - Jury
told to put sex views aside
Jury members considering the fate of Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards
and two former policemen have been told to put aside their moral views on sex
as they decide whether Louise Nicholas was raped.
2006-0330 - Southland
Times - Jury retires in rape trial
Jurors considering the fate of Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and two
former police officers were yesterday told to put aside their own moral views
on sex to decide whether Louise Nicholas had been raped.
2006-0330 - Nelson Mail - Day two
for rape case jury
A jury of seven women and five men began day two of deliberations today to
decide if a high ranking police officer and two former colleagues were
rapists and sexual abusers.
2006-0330 - NZ Herald - Relatives
pray for policemen
A karakia rang out from the Auckland courthouse and it was standing room only
inside as jurors began deliberating on Louise Nicholas' claims of police
rape. Relatives of assistant police commissioner Clint Rickards performed the
prayer, and a strong family turnout supported co-accused Bob Schollum and
Brad Shipton
2006-0330 - NZ Herald - Jury to
start second day of deliberations in police rape case
The jury in the police rape case will today begin a second day of
deliberations into the fate of former Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards
and two other former police officers.
The seven women and five men retired at 1pm yesterday at the High Court
in Auckland to consider the case against Rickards, and former officers Bob
Schollum and Brad Shipton. They adjourned for the night at 10pm after asking
several questions of Justice Tony Randerson.
2006-0330 - Dominion Post
- How it unfolded
Summary of key events in the case from 1985
2006-0330 - Dominion Post -
The Nicholas rape case has affected hundreds of people
The news dropped like a bomb, its shock waves touching all those affected.
When The Dominion Post, on January 31, 2004, published Mrs Nicholas' story
exclusively under the headline "Police raped me", the lives of
hundreds of people -- Mrs Nicholas, defendants Assistant Police Commissioner
Clint Rickards, 45, and former policemen Bradley Shipton, 53, and Robert
Schollum, 47, their families and friends, police officers, other rape
complainants -- were turned on their head.
2006-0330 - Dominion
Post - Rickards was an unlikely candidate to be a law enforcer,
by Haydon Dewes - Possessing equal quantities of intellect, cunning and
diplomacy, Clint Rickards was determined from early in his career to become
New Zealand's first Maori police commissioner. But his dream was dashed even
before the jury sat down to consider whether he was guilty of raping and
violating Louise Nicholas 20 years ago.
2006-0330 - Dominion Post -
Nicholas rape claims now in hands of jury
by Deborah Diaz - A jury considering the fate of Assistant Commissioner Clint
Rickards and two former policemen have been told to put aside their own moral
views on sex to decide if Louise Nicholas was raped.
2006-0330 - Dominion Post -
Wait begins for verdict
A karakia rang out from the Auckland courthouse and it was standing room only
inside as jurors began deliberating on Louise Nicholas' claims of police
rape. Relatives of Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards performed the
prayer, and a strong family turnout supported co-accused Bob Schollum and
Brad Shipton
2006-0329 - NZ Herald - Jury
returns to ask judge question
NZPA - Two hours into deliberations the jury in the historic police rape
case, came out of the jury room to ask whether police officers owned their
own uniforms.
2006-0329 - One News - Nicholas
jury returns to ask questions
The jury considering its verdict in the Louise Nicholas rape trial has come
back into court to ask questions….. They wanted to know if the police own
their own uniforms and if they are expected to keep them. They also asked a
question in relation to the evidence of a suppressed witness.
2006-0329 - Stuff - Jury retires in
Nicholas rape case
NZPA - A jury of seven women and five men has retired to decide if a
high-ranking policeman and two former policemen are rapists.
2006-0329 - Newstalk ZB - Rape
case jury retires
The jury has retired at the High Court in Auckland, following two-and-a-half
weeks of evidence in the case against three men on historical rape charges
2006-0329 - NZ Herald - Jury
considering police rape charges
NZPA - A jury of seven women and five men retired at 1.25pm today to decide
if a high-ranking policeman and two former policemen are rapists….. Summing
up this morning Justice Tony Randerson told the jury the three men were
entitled to benefit from any element of doubt in the case with an acquittal.
He told the jurors they faced a daunting task but were not to be influenced
by moral issues after the three men said in court they had had group sex with
Mrs Nicholas but that it was consensual.
2006-0329 - Newstalk ZB -
Judge summing up in police rape trial
The judge continues to sum up the case in the police rape trial. Justice
Randerson has told jurors that to return a guilty verdict, they must be sure
Louise Nicholas did not consent to sexual activity with three policeman in
Rotorua 20 years ago, regardless of whether force was used
2006-0329 -
peterellis.org.nz - Historical Sex Allegations
……justice? In recent months there have been acquittals and convictions. The
result a lottery. And the combatants forgotten quickly as the media focus on
the next case. The high chance that an injustice has been done belittles our
justice system. Those affected by an injustice pay a terrible price. The
rules associated with such cases need urgent reform.
2006-0329 - NZ Herald - Too many
flaws in Nicholas case, say defence lawyers
 by Nicola Boyes - Holes in the
Crown case against Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and two former
police colleagues are too great for any jury to convict the men, the High
Court at Auckland was told yesterday. Lawyers for Rickards, 45, Brad Shipton,
47, and Bob Schollum, 53, gave their closing addresses to the jury of seven
women and five men, saying the complainant, Louise Nicholas, had lied and
fabricated events and the Crown case did not come within a "bull's
roar" of what was required.
Louise Nicholas
photo by Sandra Mu
2006-0329 - Dominion Post -
Nicholas 'made up police rape fantasy'
by Deborah Diaz - Louise Nicholas has constructed a fantasy of being raped by
police officers as a teenager and though she may believe it, a jury cannot,
defence lawyers say. "She must be the unluckiest woman alive,"
Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards' lawyer John Haigh, QC, said of her
claims of abuse by seven police officers in the 1980s. "If it is true,
Mrs Nicholas is indeed a tragically haunting figure. If it is not true,
either she is deluded or she is a consummate liar."
2006-0328 - Stuff - Defence makes
closing arguments in police rape case
Stuff - Lawyers for three police officers accused of historic rape and sexual
abuse charges will make their closing arguments today…..Yesterday in his
final argument in the High Court at Auckland, Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway
asked the jurors to remember the "anguish and very real pain" Mrs
Nicholas showed when she was in the witness box
2006-0328 - One News -
Closing statements in Nicholas case
Defence lawyers for three men accused of raping a Rotorua woman Louise
Nicholas finished giving their closing addresses in court on
Tuesday…….Earlier on Tuesday the lawyers for Rickards and Shipton made their
final statements. Rickards' lawyer told the High Court in Auckland that if
the allegations made by Nicholas were not so tragically serious, they would
be laughable. John Haigh QC told the jury that Nicholas may be deluded, or
that she may be a consummate liar. He detailed what he called
"gaps a mile wide" in her evidence
2006-0328 - NZ Herald - Defence
says Nicholas' story full of holes
NZPA - The holes in the evidence of Louise Nicholas are too wide and it would
be impossible to convict Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards of
raping and indecently assaulting her, a jury was told today. John Haigh, QC,
defence lawyer for Rickards, said Mrs Nicholas was an attention-seeker who
wanted someone to blame for a past she was ashamed of.
2006-0328 - Newstalk ZB -
"Are we sure" advice for jury
The lawyer for a former policeman accused of rape has suggested the jury
writes "Are We Sure?" on the whiteboard as it deliberates. Both
sides in the police historical rape case have now summed up their cases. Paul
Mabey QC, defence lawyer for Bob Schollum, says rape complainant Louise
Nicholas builds fact into parts of her story. However, he says what is in her
mind is based on fantasy.
2006-0328 - Dominion
Post - Rickards' unbending evidence 'unreliable'
by Deborah Diaz - Assistant commissioner Clinton Rickards' denials that he is
a rapist are too simplistic, dogmatic and unbending to be believable,
prosecutors say. The credibility of Auckland's top policeman came under
sustained attack as lawyers began final arguments in the trial in the High
Court at Auckland yesterday.
Prosecutor Brent Stanaway told the jury that it was Mrs Nicholas'
evidence – rather than the defendants' – that had "the ring of
truth". Rickards, Shipton and Schollum had abused an "unfortunate
teenager" who was socially unequipped to deal with their advances
2006-0328 - NZ Herald -
Nicholas' evidence chilling, says Crown
 by Nicola Boyes - The jury in the
Louise Nicholas rape case has been urged by the Crown to remember the anguish
and pain in the voice of Mrs Nicholas when she gave evidence against the
three defendants last week. In his closing statement to the High Court jury,
Crown prosecutor Brent Stanaway said that while the accused men said Mrs
Nicholas was a liar and a serial false accuser of police officers, the Crown
argued that at the time of the alleged incidents, she was an unfortunate
teenager ill-equipped to deal with the predatory advances of the three men.
2006-0328 - Newstalk ZB -
Defence winding up case in Nicholas trial
The defence will close its case today in the trial of a top police officer
and two of his former colleagues.
2006-0327 - One News -
Closing statements in Nicholas case
The Crown has begun its closing address in the trial of the three men accused
of raping Louise Nicholas…… The Crown says Nicholas was ill-quipped to deal
with the predatory advances of the three police officers when she was 18
years old.
2006-0327 - Newstalk ZB -
Nicholas "ill-equipped" says prosecutor
Louise Nicholas was an unfortunate teenager, physically and socially
ill-equipped to deal with the predatory advances of her alleged attackers
according to Crown Prosecutor, Brent Stanaway, in his closing address to the
jury in the historical rape trial.
2006-0327 - Newstalk ZB -
Crown closes case against Rickards
The Crown is closing its case against Assistant Police Commissioner Clint
Rickards and two former colleagues on historical rape charges……. Earlier
today a witness told the court Louise Nicholas had been friendly with
Schollum at her brother's wedding in February 1993.
2006-0327 - NZ Herald -
Nicholas showed rape accused her stocking, court hears
NZPA - Louise Nicholas publicly showed her stockings to a man accused of
raping her seven years after the alleged attacks, a witness has said today.
Picton resident Kerrianne Best was giving evidence in defence of former
policeman Bob Schollum, who is accused with Assistant Police Commissioner
Clint Rickards and another former policeman, Brad Shipton.
2006-0327 - Newstalk ZB -
Schollum's defence begins
The defence case for the second of three men accused of sex offences dating
back 20 years opens in the High Court at Auckland this morning
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