It is important to understand why this case is so important and why Teina Pora must be given his freedom.
Here was my post from last year…
Beyond the fact that all evidence points to serial rapist Malcolm Rewa, beyond the fact that the interrogation process bordered on Police State, beyond the fact that paid evidence was used to convict, beyond the fact that Pora couldn’t actually identify the house, beyond the fact that Rewa would NEVER take a member of an opposite gang along for a shared rape experience – beyond all that is the physical evidence that the amount of force and violence required to kill Susan Burdett was well beyond the capacity of a 17 year teenager.
The Police framed a young kid to take the fall and what we now see represents the worst miscarriage of justice ever in NZ history.
20 years inside for a rape murder he never committed, and all because he was young and brown.
The Police Detectives must have known that the level of violence used by the killer of Susan Burdett was outside the possible range of Teina Pora, but they took him down regardless.
This has been a grotesque mutation of justice.
Congratulations to Paula Penfold for bringing this terrible injustice to the attention of everyone via TV and thanks to the NZ Herald for starting the ball rolling with their first stories on Teina Pora’s case.
This is one of the times we can be proud of our medias role in holding the powerful to account, but the question that should now be asked is how many Teina Pora’s are there in our prison system?
How many innocent people are rotting inside prison with no means of media attention to rally questions? The suggestion that we start to look at setting up an agency that can review Crown prosecutions has been ignored by this Government, if justice matters to us as a society, we need to revisit that decision.
I believe we need an agency reviewing contentious cases with the budget to investigate complaints because the Police have increasingly shown their blinkered views from within their culture warps their judgment.
Teina Pora is a clear cut example of how warped their judgement has become.
I here Judith Collins has had the temerity to suggest that the “system is working” seeing as Teina Pora has been granted a hearing at the Privy Council. Whaaaaaaaat?? First off, this is the tail end Charlie of that system. Second, it has taken hours, weeks, months, years of pretty much unrewarded effort on the part of a few dedicated people to get this to happen.
Now the crown will likely fight tooth and nail to deny legal aid. How many of you sitting here reading this, think absolutely that the right man was jailed, come on, hands up out there.
We, the country owe this guy, and we the country have to do the right thing, turn this conviction over and fork out a heap of money. Anything else, I am afraid really smacks of racism.
Judith Collins should focus more on the so-called “justice” system instead of other MP’s fashion/dress styles.
We pay her to hold the justice portfolio, and not be a Tory wannabe version of Gok.
By the way, the list of wrongful convictions is considerable. Check out this website (scroll down to “New Zealand”); http://forejustice.org/db/location/innocents_l.html
The entry for Peter Ellis is somewhat premature as he has not yet been exonerated. But there are sufficient questions over his case to warrant a full judicial review or Commission of Inquiry.
Until the poaka and prosecutors involved in this type of full frontal assault on justice start doing time themselves, these miscarriages will continue to happen. Where’s the responsibility they toss about so glibly?
This case also further highlights another disturbing element in this country, the level of racism/prejudice.
Considering the overwhelming evidence in favour of an innocent Pora and his defence struggling to raise funds, it’s astonshining how in other contentious cases like that of David Bain a backer was prepared to come forward to push the case but nothing of the sort with Pora.
Looks like even if you have faced an injustice as clear as black and white, if you’re young, poor and brown you’re a lesser person and automatically a criminal in this country.
The legal system, law makers, enforcers and populace burdened with prejudice all deserve contempt. Shame on you, as long as this continues this country will never amount to anything great.
The behaviour of our Minister of Justice over this is disgraceful, she exudes an arrogance which is becoming a sad trademark of this government
Judith Collins attitude typifies Tory arrogance in this country, the judicial system and legal system is riddled with right wing Tories who are unaccountable to society for the decisions they make which affect others peoples lives quite severly.
The damage done to families and societies through wrongful imprisonment is immense, much of the general public have lost faith in the judicial process and its ability to make balance and fair decisions.
Facing up to the truth and the facts sometimes hurts.
How many? I hate to think. Seems most governments & New Zealanders have no qualms about ignoring Blackstone’s Formulation. Most seem to think that if they have done one bad thing that they have done them all with no thought to judging things case by case or empathy while holding people to accounts. Justice it seems is not about the truth or about what is right re the rule of law.
Pora should never been convicted as the evidence was not enough – confession of otherwise. He needs to be released & compensated.
Same with Bain – I think he is guilty, but should not have been convicted so deserves compensation; presumed innocence until proven guilty with a not guilty verdict means the balance of probabilities has been assessed, the standard has been met according to the jury.
I really don’t like Collins being involved in this. Her legal experience does not qualify her to becoming judge & jury. Her bias it obvious & it is unethical & unprofessional.
P.s re others – what about the boys wrongly convicted of arson whether friends & family had to fight tooth & nail to prove it? So scary that police & the courts can ensure you are not presumed innocent….even when you really are.
This was a very unsafe conviction along with David Bain, David Tamahere and Scott Watson. Alot of circumstantial evidence and not alot of factual evidence. Obviously I do not have all the information however there are a number of things that do not add up with these cases, from my point of view.
If we are not 100% sure someone committed a crime it is a very dangerous situation to have an innocent person convicted for a crime they did not committ. I think alot of middle NZ have some serious concerns about these convictions.
Collins arrogance shows us what a nasty piece of work she is, the system is working, what a joke! Tell that to Pora, Watson and Bain, whose convictions are/were a joke along with Lundy and Tamihere which are both extremely dodgy.
The legal aid system is also a joke, Lundy needed his team to work probono and fund the appeal, Bain had Karam and it looks like Pora will also need a benefactor so the case can be heard by the law lords. It is only for the years of work put in by the likes of Karam on behalf of Bain, Tim McKinnell on behalf of Pora and the Auckland guy for Lundy that these cases have been heard and also totally wrong to get rid of the PC in the first place. Time to get rid of Collins and put in place a Criminal Cases Review Commission to sort out the total joke that is the NZ justice system.
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