Friday, March 11, 2016

Bulletin: Teina Pora: New Zealand; One year since Privy Council decision. Book on the case to be released soon: "A book - In Dark Places, The Confessions of Teina Pora And An Ex-Cop's Fight For Justice - goes on sale later this month. It is by award-winning filmmaker Michael Bennett who directed the documentary about the case, The Confessions of Prisoner T."


"At 10pm tonight it will be exactly one year since the Privy Council quashed Teina Pora's convictions for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett. After 21 years he waited patiently for the decision that freed him of the label "convicted murderer" and a bit more patience is required before he learns whether he will receive compensation. "We have to exercise the same dignified patience that Teina showed when he was waiting for the Privy Council's decision," Mr Pora's lead lawyer Jonathan Krebs said. Mr Pora went through two trials, three Court of Appeal hearings and the Privy Council process. "There is a huge amount of material to be worked through. We are sure His Honour is doing that in a thorough and detailed way," his lawyer said. Mr Pora applied for compensation soon after his convictions were quashed and last June Justice Minister Amy Adams decided the claim merited further assessment and referred it to retired judge Rodney Hansen......... Mr Hansen's first task was to decide whether he was satisfied that Mr Pora was "innocent on the balance of probabilities", a judicial test of whether Pora was more likely than not to be innocent.......... A book - In Dark Places, The Confessions of Teina Pora And An Ex-Cop's Fight For Justice - goes on sale later this month. It is by award-winning filmmaker Michael Bennett who directed the documentary about the case, The Confessions of Prisoner T."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11599613&ref=rss


See the link below for video excerpts of 'The confessions of prisoner 'T': "In 1994, Teina Pora was found guilty of the rape and murder of Susan Burdett. He has spent his adult life behind bars despite physical evidence leading to the conviction of someone else for the crimes, and concerns over the reliability of his confession. In this doco, made for Māori Television, Michael Bennett examines the case against Pora and a ground swell of belief in his innocence (a view shared by Burdett’s brother). This excerpt includes footage from Pora’s original police interview and a crime scene visit where he fails to identify Burdett’s house."
 http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-confessions-of-prisoner-t-2013