PUBLISHER'S VIEW: (EDITORIAL): I totally agree with Mr. Garner that the New Zealand Government is shamefully acting in its own interest - and not in the interest of justice - by twisting and turning to avoid paying compensation for his ordeal which was caused for the most part by well-documented incompetent policing, withholding of crucial evidence from the defence, and flawed so-called 'expert' forensic evidence. Some news media are suggesting that the government can exercise its responsibilities to Mr. Bain by paying his legal expenses. Hogwash; Or should I say sheepwash. Mr. Bain should be generously compensated to make up for the many years of his life which were wrongly seized from him. Instead, the New Zealand government has spent a vast amount of money opposing rightful compensation - money which should have been used to bring as much satisfaction as possible to him for the rest of his life.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
COMMENTARY: "The Shameful case of David Bain's compo," by Duncan Garner, published by Stuff.co on February 20, 2016; (Duncan Garner is a New Zealand radio and television host and journalist.)
GIST: "I believe this Government is biased against David Bain. I believe the decision makers believe David Bain killed his family. Like every other New Zealander, these ministers have read and followed the trials for decades. It's been impossible to ignore. They have been unable to divorce themselves from their personal views. It's completely unprofessional. For that reason, Bain can not get a fair and independent compensation hearing under this Government. It's impossible and we've seen that. Bain's claim needs to be heard by a truly independent panel away from the clutches of Government. And this time the findings can't be ignored because they don't gel with the ministers think. But that's not how it works here. The decision is highly political, not legal. This Cabinet doesn't want to pay him a cent because they don't believe he's innocent. Ministers have spent millions of dollars shopping around for a report that fits their view. The indisputable fact is that Bain was found not guilty in the retrial. You might not like that decision, but the justice system stops being a system when politicians can pick and choose the verdicts they approve of. You can't re-try by shopping around for a judge to write the report you want. And stop and wonder just for a minute if Bain didn't do it: the agony of finding his family slaughtered, being convicted, the torment of 13 years in prison and waiting the past seven years for a resolution. The Binnie report said Bain was likely innocent – the government didn't like it – it was binned. Now this latest leaked Callinan report suggests Bain is not innocent beyond reasonable doubt. That fits the Government's take. That's more like it. The Government's management of the process has been simply woeful. Bain was found not guilty at trial. He can't do anything more. The legal processes are exhausted. This has dragged on far too long and it needs to be settled. In my opinion Bain deserves compensation. This Government keeps changing the rules of the game to prevent Bain from his payday. The whole thing has lacked transparency."
The entire commentary can be found at:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/77071644/duncan-garner-the-shameful-case-of-david-bains-compo
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/
