PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially young suspects) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’ As all too many of this Blog's post have shown, I also recognize that pressure for false confessions can take many forms, up to and including inducement. deception (read ‘outright lies’) physical violence, and even physical and mental torture.
STORY: "How a murder trial revealed controversial police tactics, and more concerns about top detective’s actions," by Reporters Mike White and Blair Ensor, published on December 9, 2023, by The Post. (News from Wellington - 'Stuff' Ltd);
SUB-HEADING: "Mystery meetings, a crucial notebook that was lost, and a heavily-criticised interview technique. A range of police tactics were questioned during a recent murder trial, which, once again, put the spotlight on an already under-fire ex-detective. Mike White and Blair Ensor report."
PHOTO CAPTION: "David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum during their trial for murdering Angela Blackmoore in Christchurch in 1995. The pair were found guilty on Friday.'
GIST; 'A controversial police interviewing method and its “almost ghost-like” architect have come under sustained scrutiny at a high-profile murder trial.
And the actions, during the case, of retired Detective Superintendent Tom Fitzgerald, who invented the contentious CIPEM interviewing technique, appear almost identical to behaviour he was strongly criticised for by the Supreme Court, just three years earlier.
Fitzgerald created the Complex Investigation Phased Engagement Model (CIPEM) technique in 2018, aiming to crack cold cases where suspects had previously been reluctant to talk with police, getting alongside them by using a more informal interviewing style.
Nothing was known publicly about the technique until Stuff exposed its existence in 2022, after its use was excoriated by a judge.
It was revealed that CIPEM interviews led to a false confession from a suspect, and contributed to the collapse of a major police investigation into the 2016 murder of Lower Hutt woman Lois Tolley.
A 2019 CIPEM interview with a suspect for the homicide of 1-year-old Penny-Tui Taputoro, was subsequently also heavily criticised by a leading New Zealand lawyer.
But there were successes for CIPEM: In 2019, a confession was coaxed from Jeremy Powell, who admitted murdering Christchurch woman Angela Blackmoore in 1995.
Two other people charged with Blackmoore’s murder, Rebecca Wright-Meldrum and David Hawken, were found guilty by a jury on Friday.
But during their trial, Fitzgerald’s actions behind the scenes were uncovered, and became a focus of questioning by defence lawyers.
Despite not being involved in the murder investigation, Fitzgerald flew back from Canberra where he was posted, to organise and oversee the interviews of Powell and Wright-Meldrum, using the CIPEM technique he had developed.
The interview with Wright-Meldrum on October 25, 2019 was conducted by one of Fitzgerald’s CIPEM protegees, Detective Sergeant Maania Piahana, whose interview with suspect Kathleen Smith earlier that year in the Penny-Tui Taputoro case was later described by Nigel Hampton, KC, as “very troubling” and “oppressive”.
Fitzgerald, the most senior officer present while Wright-Meldrum was being spoken to, observed the interview from a monitor’s room, and coached Piahana during breaks.
After the fourth time Wright-Meldrum suggested she needed to speak with a lawyer, Piahana finally stopped the interview, and indicated she would arrange for this to happen.
Wright-Meldrum then asked to have a cigarette, and was told she could do this outside.
Fitzgerald appeared at the door of the interview room after five minutes, introduced himself to Wright-Meldrum, and went with her to the public car park outside the Christchurch South police station.
They remained outside for 19 minutes.
There is no evidence their interaction was recorded.
Fitzgerald didn’t fill out a job sheet about the time he spent with Wright-Meldrum.
He initially informed police he made no notes of it, and, thus, Wright-Meldrum’s lawyers were told several times by police there were no notebooks from Fitzgerald to disclose.
The head of the Blackmoore murder investigation, Detective Sergeant Todd Hamilton, told the trial: “We had previously asked [Fitzgerald] about notebooks, and he said that he didn’t have any.”
However, midway through the trial, Fitzgerald, who retired unexpectedly in October 2022, informed police he did have a notebook, but couldn’t find it. He told police he would continue looking for it, but nothing was provided to the court by the time the trial concluded.
Fitzgerald claimed either Piahana or another detective, Micaela Rolton, were also outside with him and Wright-Meldrum.
But both denied they were present, instead insisting they remained inside the police station.
Both confirmed they observed Fitzgerald outside with Wright-Meldrum, but didn’t know what discussions took place.
Piahana, now a detective inspector, told the Blackmoore trial Fitzgerald would have decided who escorted Wright-Meldrum outside for a cigarette, and agreed it was an important part of the sequence of police dealing with Wright-Meldrum.
“Yes, his interactions with her should have been recorded.”
Hamilton told the court that if he had had a discussion with Wright-Meldrum at this point, he would have recorded it, “one way or another”, and Fitzgerald should have written about what happened in his notebook.
He confirmed that any interview with a suspect should be recorded on video if possible, or by audio, or in an officer’s notebook. Once an interview was finished, there should be no discussions with a suspect off-camera.
In a statement to police about the 19 minutes he and Wright-Meldrum were outside, Fitzgerald said: “I have no memory of the conversation.”
However, he told Hamilton he didn’t discuss details of the case, and was only assessing if Wright-Meldrum would possibly “re-engage” with police in the future about Blackmoore’s murder.
Eventually, Fitzgerald appears to have taken Wright-Meldrum back to the police interview room, despite the interview having concluded.
She was left alone there for another 11 minutes, with the police video still recording her, despite Piahana having told Wright-Meldrum it was going to be turned off after the interview finished.
In total, the video remained on for 40 minutes after Wright-Meldrum indicated she wanted a lawyer and the interview was ended. During some of this, Wright-Meldrum made comments to herself.
SUPPLIED
Wright-Meldrum’s lawyers didn’t know the extent of Fitzgerald’s involvement in the interviews until the trial had begun.
No notes were taken of a briefing meeting between the interview team members earlier that morning, which Fitzgerald chaired; and his presence in the monitor’s room wasn’t recorded in job sheets or notebooks.
It was only when Fitzgerald’s voice was caught on the video recording introducing himself to Wright-Meldrum after her interview had finished, that questions were asked who this person was.
When it emerged it was Fitzgerald, further probes uncovered he had spent nearly 20 minutes outside with Wright-Meldrum - an event that hadn’t been recorded anywhere.
The revelations forced Hamilton to spend time during the trial, trying to get explanations about what had occurred.
Despite this, there appears little clarity about what Fitzgerald discussed off-camera with Wright-Meldrum. Neither Fitzgerald or Wright-Meldrum gave evidence at the trial.
Her lawyer, Phil Shamy, pointed to comments Wright-Meldrum later made on intercepted phone calls where she said: “They’ve told me, if I don’t sing like a f…..g canary, I’m going down for it,” and, referring to prison, “I’ve been told I’m getting 15.”
In his closing address, Shamy told the jury: “What could have led to her saying that - because that’s not in the interview you’ve seen.
“That’s why that portion when she is having a cigarette outside with Detective Superintendent Fitzgerald is so important. That wasn’t recorded. What was she told outside, that should have been recorded?”
Shamy said Fitzgerald’s full involvement was only discovered through cross-examination during the trial.
“He’d come all this way from Canberra to be part of these interviews, both of them. He’d been in the monitor’s room, where they monitor the videos. He’d been coaching. Nothing.
“He’s almost like a ghost.”
However, the Sunday Star-Times can reveal there are remarkable similarities between Fitzgerald’s actions in the Blackmoore case, and another controversial case Fitzgerald was involved in, where he was strongly criticised by the country’s top court.
In 2014, police interviewed Verdun Perry about the death of Arran Gairns near Ashburton.
Perry was questioned for an hour before requesting to speak with a lawyer.
The lawyer instructed Perry not to say anything more, and the interview ended.
Perry was then taken to an enclosed yard at the police station for a cigarette.
Minutes later, Tom Fitzgerald, who Perry had never met, and wasn’t heading the investigation, appeared and led Perry away out of earshot.
Fitzgerald encouraged Perry to continue talking with police, despite his lawyer’s advice, and Perry eventually made a statement without a lawyer present, and was later charged with manslaughter.
Appeals about whether Perry’s statement was obtained fairly went all the way to the Supreme Court, in 2016.
All five judges agreed Fitzgerald shouldn’t have given Perry advice contrary to what his lawyer had told him.
And all agreed that crucial conversations with Fitzgerald should have been recorded.
But, in a split decision, the majority ruled that excluding Perry’s statement would be “disproportionate to the impropriety”.
However, two dissenting judges were scathing of what Fitzgerald did.
Justice Susan Glazebrook said Fitzgerald not recording his interaction with Perry and another witness were “serious failings which have left uncertainty as to what was said”, and were “a very serious breach” of rules governing interviews.
She said Fitzgerald’s actions were “deliberate and calculated to persuade Mr Perry to make a statement”, and labelled his actions “disingenuous”.
Sian Elias, who was then Chief Justice, said Perry’s statement was obtained “unfairly” because key exchanges with police weren’t recorded.
“The ‘advice’ [Perry] was offered by the Detective Inspector was very bad advice indeed.”
Fitzgerald didn’t answer questions about the similarities between the Perry case, and his discussion with Wright-Meldrum, but said his interaction with her was “short, professional, and appropriate.”
“When I spoke to Ms Wright-Meldrum, I introduced myself and said words to the effect of, when she was ready to tell her story, police would be there for her.
“I acknowledged this would be a shock after so many years, but also that it may be that at some time, she would be ready to talk to us.
“It was a short conversation, certainly less than 19 minutes.”
Fitzgerald said the purpose of the conversation was to see if Wright-Meldrum would possibly re-engage with police, and let her know she could do this any time in the future.
“No threatening language was used, and, in fact, it would have been very counter-productive to do so.”
Regarding questions whether there were notes of their discussion, and his missing notebook, Fitzgerald said he was asked by investigation head Todd Hamilton during the trial whether he could recall his interaction with Wright-Meldrum.
“I undertook to see if I could locate any relevant recorded information.”
Fitzgerald was New Zealand’s most senior investigator when he left the police in 2022, and headed the country’s Criminal Investigation Branch.
He has always insisted his retirement was planned for some time, and was in no way linked to scrutiny of CIPEM, which has been the subject of a two-year investigation by Stuff."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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