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Focus on
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Wellington - Three teenage
girls who walked free from court after the conviction that sent them to
prison last year was overturned will seek compensation, their lawyer says. Teangarua Lucy Akatere,
17, Tania Mayze Vini, 17, and Krishla Priscilla Fuataha, 16, were jailed last
year for what a judge described as a "sadistic" slashing. The three had their
convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal in Auckland yesterday after they
had spent eight months in prison on a charge of aggravated robbery. They were convicted on
the evidence of a 13-year-old whom police now say was unreliable. She has
given several versions of the attack which left a 16-year-old schoolgirl cut
and bruised. The schoolgirl was
attacked near the Three Kings Mall in Auckland in August 1999. She was
repeatedly slashed with a pair of scissors, kicked and thumped, and robbed of
$10. After Justices
Robertson, Gault, and Salmon's overturning of the conviction, which was not
opposed by police, the trio's lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, said they would be
seeking compensation but not immediately. Mr Gotlieb said the
three did not commit the crime and were wrongfully convicted. He said police had
tunnel vision and it was often the case that the police believed they had the
offender and then found the facts to fit the crime. Mr Gotlieb said the
issue of compensation had yet to be decided but it would be sought and the
girls would be offered victim support. "We are not even
going to think about it for some time. We are just going to get these girls
sorted out, that is the main thing," he said. He said despite the
"terrible injustice" that had been done, yesterday's ruling had
shown the system could right itself. Ms Fuataha was
sentenced to two years jail, the other two to 18 months. "The investigation
and trial system failed in this case," said Justice Gault. The court said the
wrong conviction raised questions about the conduct of the police which must
be investigated. "Three young
persons have been let down by the system." Crown prosecutor Kieran
Raferty told the Court of Appeal yesterday the convictions were unsafe and a
retrial would not be sought. The court was told that after the original trial
an affidavit was produced by a principal witness retracting the original
evidence. Facts were also
produced proving the three were not near the scene of the attack. Much of the new
evidence was not fresh and could have been obtained with reasonable diligence
before the trial, the judges said. "They have been
subjected to the demeaning experience of a public trial and the constant
rejection of their protestations of innocence. "We offer our
sympathy to them," Justice Gault said. Outside the court the trio said
the ruling was "sensational". "I am happy it is
over now after so long," Ms Vini said. "Spending time in
jail hurt," Ms Fuataha said. The three girls said it
was disgusting that an alleged co-offender had told lies at the original
trial. "I don't know how
they could do that for $10," Ms Vini said. An internal police
inquiry has found evidence that led to the wrongful conviction and jailing of
the girls was unsafe and unreliable. However, police have
yet to decide if it was a police error which led to the three girls spending
time in prison on the evidence from a 13-year-old. The 13-year-old was too
young to be charged but has been dealt with under the provisions of the
Children, Young Persons and their Families Act. Detective Senior
Sergeant Stu Allsopp-Smith, who was in charge of the investigation , said
yesterday that although his inquiry was incomplete, he was satisfied the
evidence of the 13-year-old was unreliable. He said she had
admitted her evidence at the trial and an earlier depositions hearing was
false. -------------------- Caption: Photo NZ Herald - Auckland teenagers
Krishla Fuataha, left, Tania Vini, and Teangarua Akatere leave the High Court
with their lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, after their convictions for assault were
quashed. |
