Simon Power, head in the sand? Again?

Legislation that will enhance the privacy, safety and security of jurors was introduced to Parliament today.

Justice Minister Simon Power said the Juries Amendment Bill included a provision to remove the addresses of potential jurors from jury panel lists.

The move comes after convicted murderer George Baker wrote to a juror whose name he saw on a list while he was representing himself in a trial.

Currently, a jury list must contain the name, occupation, date of birth and full address of potential jurors.

Since 2008, self-represented defendants have been prohibited from keeping a copy of the jury list or taking notes, but they can inspect it under supervision.

In addition, where there is a real risk that an accused may intimidate jurors, the prosecutor can apply for a judge-alone trial.

Mr Power said those changes were made to protect the privacy of jurors, but the Baker incident highlighted the need to further restrict access to the information.

"Serving on a jury is an important civic duty and we must do everything we can to make it as safe and easy as possible," he said.

The proposed changes in the bill will:

remove the addresses of potential jurors from jury lists;


allow the prosecution, defence lawyer, or the court-appointed adviser to defendants representing themselves to have automatic access to all address information on request;


prevent the accused from ever seeing potential jurors' addresses by prohibiting the defence lawyer or court-appointed adviser from showing the addresses to the accused;


extend the section of the Juries Act which makes it clear that misconduct in relation to jury lists may be treated as contempt of court to include the act of showing the accused, or any other person, jurors' addresses; and


bar people from serving on a jury if they have, in the previous five years, been sentenced to home detention for three months or more. This puts them in the same category as those sentenced to a short term of imprisonment

Simon Power who knee-jerked the removal of the legislation allowing provocation as a defence in homicide, this despite the previously existing law demonstrably working in the infamous case of Clayton Weatherston. Simon Power who drew John Key to a Sensible Sentencing Trust meeting in company of the fraudsters, McVicar, Hide and Garret only to have it later revealed that the fraudsters had misled the Public over the integrity of Garret and his famous false statistics that enabled the useless 3 strikes law, and more tellingly having withheld statistics about his (Garret's) source of amusement and excitement, stealing identities. Yes, the same Simon Power who has prematurely decided to leave Parliament, the unseasoned practitioner of the Law who bowed to the rednecks rather than the tradition of the evolution of the law as it practised and challenged, now tightens up on the protection of Jurors because a half-baked psycho wrote a letter to a Juror imagining that it might lead to some sort of romantic involvement or even some normality in a disordered mind.

Meanwhile no comment from head-in-the-sand Simon about the Jury stalking of the Bain Jury, real events by people at large and connected to dangerous hate-sites of nutters and fiddlers. People bragging about their stalking of Jury members and what number of Jurors they had (being the identity and whereabouts of those jurors.) Simon, an idiot who is concerned about a self-harming lunatic locked in a high-security prison and not about apparent 'members' of the public who display an entitlement to 'own' and track and stalk a Jury while at the same time defaming and bringing them into disrepute on the boards of cyberspace. Good to see the generous arse-end of you Simon, Garth will give you a job.

I'm happy to see the value of Jury's acknowledged, and protection and guaranteed anonymity for them, but this from a Minister on whose watch a Jury has been stalked and defamed - get a life Simon, shame on you believing you were ever a Minister of Justice and not a fat puppet of the SST. On ya bike ya mug.

And just before finishing this, front up Power and observe the Law. Don't pretend the Magna Carta doesn't exist, or that pompous pricks were restrained from the role of deciding guilt and innocence a 1000 years ago in favour of a properly instructed Jury to ensure the political whim or fancy of a 'Minister' doesn't prejudice Justice and the right to a fair trial by a Jury of one's peers, and not a pretender taking the role of 'King.' You'll probably hide from making a lawful decision regarding the Bain case compensation, but why not show some guts and respect for the law in which you were trained? Respect the law Power. Your disrespect of our system of Law should have been challenged in the High Court months ago when you failed to comprehend your actions present as your 'right' as Minister to elevate yourself above the constitutional right to be judged by one peers. Have you never heard of a 'fair go,' the thing manufactured in the psyche of nzers of a man or woman judging fairness, the right of choice and protection of the law. There is no law that allows you to judge what a jury has already judged.