The Herald on Sunday has reported that it is understood that Scott's plea for clemency 'must' fail because Kirsty McDonald investigation has uncovered no 'new' evidence. Rodney Hide spoke to both the Herald on Sunday and on Radio Live about his disappointment that Simon Power hadn't acted on what is recognised as a travesty of Justice. Plaudits to Rodney for that.
The idea that failed or disproved evidence doesn't constitute new evidence seems to be an aberration that a conviction can still 'hold' when there was so much that Jury couldn't consider because it wasn't before them, such as the fact that witnesses recanted on evidence that was persuasive and offered under inducement, and so many leads were dismissed without investigation. False or recanted evidence that on 1st consideration fully imposed a troubling picture of Scott Watson, a false picture that remains and ought to have been erased either by a pardon or by a re-trial where the truth would be told and untruthful evidence excluded.
Then for students of the elements of a miscarriage of Justice is the more publicly recognised knowledge now that there was a deliberate campaign to blacken the name of Scott Watson by investigators long before the trial and a exclusion of evidence or investigation into leads that might have steered the investigation away from Rob Pope's target - Scott Watson. And that campaign is borne out now that more of the case is public and understood by the fact that highly prejudicial evidence offered by prison inmates in exchange for deals with the police has failed the test of time and credibility.
I hope these portents are wrong, just as I know the Royal Prerogative for Mercy is most often ineffectual and wrong and misplaces the course of Justice from the Courts into hands of transient politicians who might seen as concerned with the winds of what public reactions or favour might bear upon any decision they make. Fairness and Justice cannot rely on 'gut instinct' policing that utilises propaganda, excludes evidence, recanted evidence, laid out to be picked over at length by a lawyer who can see nothing new in failed evidence.
If the worst prospect is realised I hope Greg King will seek a review of the Minister's decision, all guns blazing. If the recanted evidence was of no value then why was it ever called and who but the Jury could have determined the weight originally given to it in their deliberations. It was the icing on the cake, the ultimate prejudicial arrow to allow a jury to be disgusted and convict despite other evidence harbouring doubt falling short.
All said and done Rodney Hide could have pushed Scott's case a lot more than he has, simply blaming Power now seems like a cop out. A use of the same energy which saw him take overseas 'perk' trips and hide the truth about one of his MPs might have resulted in a better and more meaningful result for Watson.
ReplyDeleteWhen the inevitable happens now with this news..perhaps public exposure of certain personalities both famous and infamous tied to this case will cause such a backlass the judiciary will be forced to review their decision..i am poised..viva la revolution..
ReplyDeleteOne may wonder the connection between Jenny Shipley..Margaret Bazley..John Coulter..Hugh Fletcher..Sian Elias..Peter Blake..Steven Wallace..Michael Wallace..Christopher Greig..Peter Mcmanaway..Thomas Fry..
ReplyDeleteOh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
I've read the allegations about a mix of people allegedly involved in some type of conspiracy, however, I reject it as having any consequence as to Scott's innocence.
ReplyDeleteThe truth appears simpler to me, Scott was chosen, at some point when the crime 'needed' to be solved, as the guilty person. Then hand in hand with a pre-arrest and pre-trial pr campaign, which in itself was a Miscarriage of Justice, evidence, or potential evidence, helpful to Scott ignored, and evidence which was of neglgible value, dramatised and misrepresented.
Look at the pr campaign and the prisoners singing for their suppers, both of these instigated by the police, then consider the late submission to the Jury regarding the sailing times of the Blade on the unproven allegation to dump bodies. Remove that, consider that there was no motive, unreliable identification and vessel descriptions, no conclusive evidence against Scott - only a circumstantial case padded with prejudicial bias and down right misleading, and we have an innocent man in prison and a crime unsolved.