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Allegations of Sexual Abuse |
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I sat through the trial ("Wife of rape accused
stands by her man", July 17) every day and, apart from the evidence of
the complainant, could not see how the jury could have possibly convicted.
There was enough doubt to raise the Titanic. I am a 34 year-old mother and law student in my
final semester at Victoria University's School of Law, Wellington. I also
have a BA in sociology and a postgrad diploma in criminology. The complainant must have been a very credible
witness because the jurors, by returning a guilty verdict, meant they
disbelieved the defendants' accounts and character accounts of their honesty.
The families and wives and partners of the defendants are victims of this
most unlikely verdict. If one of the accused gave evidence or one of the
four defence counsel was addressing the court or a witness, at least two of
the jurors would giggle to themselves, pass notes to each other, play with
their hair and pay little attention. I have huge respect for juries as part
of our criminal justice system, but to my mind justice was not delivered in
this instance. |
