UPDATED 3.15PM: Justice Minister Amy Adams today announced that Teina Pora will receive $2.5 million in compensation.
This comes after an independent review found that on the balance of probabilities, Pora is innocent of the charges for which he was convicted.
LISTEN ABOVE: LAW PROFESSOR ANDREW GEDDIS TALKS TO MIKE HOSKING ABOUT THE CASE
Cabinet has accepted that finding and agreed to pay just over $2,520,949.42 in compensation for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment.
“The Government has agreed to compensate Mr Pora after considering reports from retired High Court Judge Rodney Hansen QC, which confirmed Mr Pora’s innocence and recommended the compensation amount that should be paid to him under the guidelines,” Ms Adams says.
“I have written to Mr Pora to acknowledge his innocence and unreservedly apologise to him for the devastating impact his wrongful conviction and imprisonment has had on nearly 20 years of his life. “While it can never completely remedy the injustice Mr Pora has suffered, I hope that these findings, along with the compensation, can go some way in helping him and his family build a better future together.”
LISTEN: Caller Michael: Serving time with Teina Pora
The review, by retired High Court Judge Rodney Hansen, said a higher threshold for innocence could have been met.
“The state of evidence is such that … Mr Pora could have proved his innocence to an even higher standard,” Mr Hansen’s report said.
Last year the Privy Council quashed Mr Pora's convictions for the rape and murder of Susan Burdett.
Mr Hansen’s key findings in establishing Mr Pora’s innocence were:
Mr Pora’s confessions to Police, affected by his foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, were a clear fabrication and cannot be relied upon.
In particular, Mr Pora did not disclose anything to Police that he could have known only had he been present at the attack on Ms Burdett
Evidence said to corroborate Mr Pora’s confession was unreliable as it came from family members who had already concluded that he was guilty
Evidence relied on to show an association between Mr Pora and Rewa was also unreliable.
Mr Hansen said the undisputed evidence lead to the “irresistible inference” that Rewa acted alone in the sexual violation and murder of Ms Burdett and that there was no credible evidence he was accompanied by Mr Pora.
Ms Adams defended the New Zealand’s justice system in the wake of the findings.
“By and large, New Zealanders enjoy a fair and effective criminal justice system,” she said.
“However, mistakes are possible in any system that relies on human judgment. It’s now clear the system has erred in this case, and this decision recognises this.”
Law professor Andrew Geddis said the amount compensated should come as no surprise given the length of Pora's sentence.
He said anyone who's looked at Pora's case in depth, can see he was wrongly convicted.
"Which meant an innocent man was in jail for 21 years, which is a terrible thing. So $2 million sounds a lot, but if you think about what you did for the last 21 years of your life, would $2 million pay for it?
"One thing we don't yet know about this compensation package is whether there'll be an apology connected with it, because one of the things that Teina Pora wanted was not just money, he also wanted someone to say sorry for what had happened to him. It'll be interesting to see whether the Government provides that."
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The base rate for compensation in wrongful conviction cases is $100,000 per year.
But Law expert, and Massey University Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor Chris Gallavin told Chris Lynch in today's world that's less than half what people received in historical cases.
He adds it's not a case where everyone thought he was guilty, and the entire process was riddled with issues.
"This case has been a systematic stuff up by the police from day one. Everybody who looked at this case said this was a clear injustice. Even retired cops were coming out of the woodworks."
Compensation for wrongful conviction, while rare, is not without precedent.
In 2001, David Dougherty received almost $870,000 after being wrongfully convicted for rape.
Perhaps one of the most famous cases was that of Arthur Allan Thomas who received a $950,000 payment in the late 70's after he was pardoned for the murders of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe.
Adjusted for inflation Thomas' payout would be worth around $4.8 million today.
Des Thomas, Arthur Allan's brother, said Pora should get something closer to $10 million, given that inflation and how long he spent in prison.
"Two million is really pittance for what he went through if he's been in there 22 years," Thomas said.
The Government's still considering whether to pay David Bain compensation.
John Key said that's a more complex case than Pora's as he has "well and truly met the threshold of effectively being proven innocent.""They're different issues when it comes to David Bain.""
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