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Focus on
Police Competence |
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Krishla Fuataha (from left), Tania Vini and Lucy Akatere.
Herald Picture : Martin Sykes The police have
apologised to three girls who spent seven months in jail for a crime they did
not commit. Commissioner Rob
Robinson said yesterday that police were "very sorry" that the
Auckland teenagers were "victims of a miscarriage of justice". On Tuesday, the Court
of Appeal in Auckland quashed the joint conviction for aggravated robbery of
Teangarua (Lucy) Akatere and Tania Mayze Vini, both aged 17, and McCushla
(Krishla) Priscilla Fuataha, 16, all of Mt Roskill. The court heard that
after their trial, the Crown's principal witness, a 13-year-old, retracted
her evidence by affidavit. A corroborating witness also retracted his
evidence. The 13-year-old, who
was too young to be charged, had claimed she and the three older girls
attacked a 16-year-old schoolgirl at Three Kings Plaza in 1999. Outside the Court of
Appeal on Tuesday, the girls said they were happy with the ruling but
"we just want the police to say sorry". Last night, Tania Vini
and Lucy Akatere said they would not be satisfied until they received the
apology in person from police and particularly the officer in charge of the
case, Detective Constable Trevor Franklin, a former test cricketer. Lucy Akatere said she
also wanted a personal apology from another detective who had interviewed
her. Tania Vini's father,
Vini Kavi, said he was pleased with the apology but "it was what we
expected". Mr Robinson, who is
based at police national headquarters in Wellington, said Auckland officers
would convey the apology to the girls and their families. "The criminal
justice process has checks and balances at all stages, including the court
hearings. Unfortunately, they all seemed to fail these girls," he said. An internal inquiry
into the original investigation was under way. Justices Bruce
Robertson, Thomas Gault and Peter Salmon, who overturned the conviction, told
the girls they had the court's sympathy. Justice Gault said the
wrongful conviction "raises questions of conduct by the police, which is
a serious matter and must be properly investigated". The girls' lawyer, Gary
Gotlieb, said they would seek compensation but the main focus at the moment
was their emotional wellbeing and victim support. Justice Minister Phil
Goff , speaking from Shanghai where he is attending an Apec meeting, said the
level of compensation available would depend on the degree of culpability by
the state in mishandling the case. "I can't make any judgment on that
until a proper investigation is made of it." Murray Gibson, the
Auckland lawyer who won compensation of $868,728 for David Dougherty after he
had spent three years in jail for rape and abduction before being acquitted
in a retrial, said the girls could get between $60,000 and $70,000 each under
new guidelines. That was working on a
formula of $100,000 for each year spent in prison after a wrongful conviction. Mr Gibson said there
was also provision for exemplary damages if police misconduct could be proven
rather than just police incompetence. The three girls were
convicted after a High Court trial in August last year. The jury heard that the
victim was thumped and kicked and her head banged against a tree stump before
she was cut with scissors and robbed of $10. Krishla Fuataha, who
was said to have wielded the scissors, was sentenced to two years' jail and
the others to 18 months. The girls were given
bail in April after Mr Gotlieb brought in private investigator Bryan Rowe, a
former police superintendent, to look at the file and police subsequently
agreed to reinvestigate the case. |
