STORY: "Teina Pora decision from Privy Council due," by reporter Paul Easton, published by stuff.co on March 3, 2015.
GIST: "Teina Pora was convicted in 1994 of murdering Susan Burdett in 1992.
Almost 23 years after his sister was brutally slain, Jim
Burdett is hoping for "some kind of closure" from an historic Privy
Council ruling. Teina Pora was convicted in June 1994 of the
murder of Susan Burdett, 39, who was found bludgeoned to death with a
softball bat in her Papatoetoe home in March 1992.An accounts clerk, she had returned home from a night out ten pin bowling when she was attacked. The London-based five-judge Privy Council has reviewed the case, and will deliver its decision at 10pm tonight New Zealand time......... In 1995 DNA evidence linked the attack on Burdett to serial rapist Malcolm Rewa.
Pora appealed in 2000 but was reconvicted of Burdett's murder and Rewa was convicted of her rape. The case was referred to the Privy Council for what is likely to be its last ruling on a New Zealand case, after the establishment of the Supreme Court in 2004. The Privy Council, including New Zealand Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, retired in November after two days of legal argument, to decide if Pora was wrongly convicted of murdering Burdett. During the hearing, Pora's lead counsel Jonathan Krebs argued that Pora admitted to a crime he did not commit because he wanted a $50,000 police reward. He presented evidence from a forensic psychologist saying Pora had a strong degree of suggestibility, was easily confused and wanted to please others. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder made Pora not a "rational, cogent and mature person" when he gave his confession, Krebs said. For the Crown, New Zealand solicitor general Michael Heron QC said that even if Pora's confession had been inadmissible the jury would not have reached a different conclusion. The law lords may decide to order a retrial, or send the case to the New Zealand Court of Appeal for it to hear expert evidence, and then decide whether to order a retrial."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/66857770/teina-pora-decision-from-privy-council-due
Wikipedia informs us that: "On 31 January 2014 the Judicial Committee announced that Pora had been granted permission to take his case to the Privy Council in London later in 2014. The hearing was held in November. Pora's lawyer Jonathan Krebs told the Privy Council his client had recently been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and had a mental age of nine or 10 at the time of the crime. He said this disability meant Pora was easily confused, had a drive to please others, and that his confession in 1993 should therefore be seen as unreliable.[31] Questions were also asked about the people named by Pora as having committed the murder. One of the Privy Council judges, Lord Toulson asked New Zealand's Solicitor-General "Why didn't Pora name [Malcolm] Rewa?" The explanation given by Pora's lawyers was that "Pora couldn't name Rewa because Pora didn't know him and because Pora wasn't there".[32] The Solicitor General, Michael Heron, disagreed saying that a number of people had testified to having seen Pora and Rewa together and argued that Pora had special knowledge about the crime indicating he was involved.[33]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teina_Pora
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;
