Sunday, February 8, 2015

Mark Lundy: New Zealand; Retrial ordered by British Privy Council begins; Defence lawyer says prosecutions's case is "completely different" to that put forward in 2002. Stuff.co;


STORY: "Mark Lundy murder retrial begins: Case 'completely different', court told," by reporter Ross Giblin, published by Stuff.co on February 9, 2015.

GIST:  "The evidence against Mark Lundy on charges that he murdered his wife and daughter in 2000 has substantially changed since he first stood trial in 2002, the jury for his retrial has been told. Lundy, 56, is accused of staging a burglary, and launching a ferocious attack on his wife, Christine, 38, and daughter Amber, 7, with a small axe or tomahawk which has not been found. First convicted in 2002, he now has a new trial because of a Privy Council ruling, and has pleaded not guilty.........The defence said the case against Lundy was "completely different" to that put forward in 2002. One of Lundy's lawyers, Ross Burns, said Lundy was wrongly convicted in 2002 when a jury was persuaded that he had killed his family at about 7pm. The jury had to put aside anything they had heard about the first trial because it was wrong, Burns said. A person who claimed to have seen Lundy in Palmerston North was not to be a witness at this trial because the Crown said she was not reliable, Burns said. Nor would there be evidence about the time the family's computer was shut down. At the first trial an expert said it had been manipulated to show a false shutdown time just before 11pm. Burns said that expert would now say that it was never his opinion that the shutdown time was manipulated. Burns said the police had suffered from tunnel vision from an early stage of the investigation. It was not until last year that scrapings from under the fingernails of Christine and Amber were tested and DNA was found from two strangers, the same DNA under both their fingernails, Burns said. Lundy's trial was expected to last about nine weeks and a jury of seven men and five women had been picked to hear it..........The first witness was expected to be called tomorrow."

The entire story can be found at:

 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/65956067/mark-lundy-murder-retrial-begins-case-completely-different-court-told

On-going live coverage:

 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/65937684/live-mark-lundy-murder-retrial

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
 
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;