STORY: "Teira Pora bail decision reserved," by reporter Jimmy Ellingham, published by TVNZ on March 18, 2014.
GIST: "A High Court judge has reserved his decision on whether twice-convicted murderer and rapist Teina Pora will be granted bail. Pora, 38, has spent 21 years behind bars for the 1992 rape and murder Susan Burdett in Auckland. He was present in the High Court at Auckland today as his lawyer Jonathan Krebs argued for his release ahead of his Privy Council appeal. After hearing from Mr Krebs and Crown lawyer Matthew Downs, Justice Lang reserved his decision. Legislation means all discussion today is suppressed. Last week the Court of Appeal ruled it didn't have jurisdiction to grant bail and referred the matter back to the High Court. Mr Krebs has said pursuing bail for Pora, who also has a parole hearing set for the end of the month, was important as a successful result would enable him to be free of conditions set on his sentence. At his first trial in 1994, Pora was found guilty of the murder of Ms Burdett, who was beaten with a softball bat in the bedroom of her south Auckland home in 1992. Pora had confessed to police but a retrial was ordered as doubts began to emerge about his involvement. However at the retrial in 2000, Pora was again found guilty......... For now, Pora faces a nervous wait. Justice Lang indicated his decision would be out before the end of next week. On the following Monday Pora will appear before the Parole Board."
The entire story can be found at:
See previous post: 'Teina Pora has been granted permission to take his case to the Privy Council. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has just announced its decision. Pora has been behind bars since 1994 after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of Auckland woman Susan Burdett. Pora initially confessed to the crime but then claimed he was not responsible and has subsequently maintained he is innocent. Last year the victim's brother Jim Burdett called for a Commission of Inquiry into the police handling of the investigation into the 1992 rape and murder of his sister saying that the only thing Pora is guilty of is "stupidity". Mr Burdett supported the appeal to the Privy Council saying he believes there has been a miscarriage of justice."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2014/01/bulletin-teina-pora-major-development.html
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/
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;
