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No Sentence or Sensibility
By Steven | June 5, 2008
I’m not sure the implications of this extraordinary Dominion Post story have been explored quite enough:
The practice of offering rewards in murder cases is under review after the defence in the Foreman trial used the proposed payout to undermine the Crown’s star witness.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust was set to pay $50,000 to Donna Kingi if Murray Foreman was convicted of the murder of Hawke’s Bay farmer Jack Nicholas, but Mr Foreman’s lawyer, Bruce Squire, QC, said Ms Kingi was motivated only by money and discredited her evidence.
Mr Foreman was acquitted on Wednesday, and trust spokesman Garth McVicar said it was unlikely rewards for information leading to conviction would be offered in future.
Memo to Garth: good plan. Quite apart from handing the defence the witness’s head on a platter, the reward is probably a contempt of court. It creates a real risk of influencing the evidence of a witness. Fair to say, many witnesses might manage a surprising clarity of recall of incriminating evidence if fifty grand is riding on the outcome.
The Sensible Sentencing Trust: committing crimes so the criminals can get away with them.
(I know, I know… that last sentence is cute, but I need to note that I didn’t follow the Foreman trial closely enough to have any idea of whether it’s fair to say that he got away with murder).
Topics: Contempt of Court | Comments Off on No Sentence or Sensibility