“Inside New Zealand: What’s Your Verdict? is the innovative Inside New Zealand documentary series where a hand-picked jury examines the evidence presented in four of the country’s most notorious and controversial crime cases.
Crime and justice are a critical source of New Zealand stories – the treatment of an accused person by police, the media and the courts tells us a great deal about the state of the nation.
Our collective honesty, integrity and prejudices are never more exposed than during a big trial.
And what remains the cornerstone of our criminal justice system is the jury – 12 ordinary people called upon to decide the guilt or innocence of an accused. Behind closed doors they debate the evidence and draw on their conscience to deliver a verdict.
In the first documentary, what happens when a new jury is called to reassess the guilt or innocence of David Tamihere, the man accused of the double murder of Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen in 1989?
Nearly two years later David Tamihere, a man who admitted stealing the Swedes’ car, was convicted of their murders. At the time of Tamihere’s trial, the bodies were not found. So, with no murder scene, limited forensics and no eyewitnesses, could the conviction against Tamihere ever be reliable? Even after 15 years in prison, Tamihere and his family still claim he is innocent – alleging he was a victim of “trial by news media” orchestrated by police and the Crown Law Office, a scapegoat whose previous criminal record was leaked at a crucial point just before the trial.
The Prosecution’s use of secret witnesses was also hotly debated. And despite Hoglin’s body being found in 1991 at a location 70km from where police argued Tamihere committed the crime, Tamihere’s application to the Appeal Court was dismissed. What does our new jury make of the evidence presented to them? Will their opinions be altered with new evidence which has come to hand after the court case." TV3; tv3.co.nz; 11/06/2007