There are 2 disturbing things about the diagnosis of Alan Hall as suffering from autism which led to his sentence of life imprisonment for the stabbing death of Arthur Easton, killed at the door of his own home. A crime that it has always been clear he didn't commit. He never fitted the profile of a young tall and powerfully built Maori or Polynesian man. Alan was a small European man who was said to have learning difficulties. Something obvious to police on both counts - so what did they do? Because he apparently changed his story more than once they pressed ahead and charged him using the fact that he lied as a significant pointer toward his guilt. Here are some pointers to autism
Abnormal body posturing or facial expressions.
Abnormal tone of voice.
Avoidance of eye contact or poor eye contact.
Behavioral disturbances.
Deficits in language comprehension.
Delay in learning to speak.
Flat or monotonous speech.
Inappropriate social interaction.
From what I recall reading about Alan was that he was somewhat a loner and lived with his mother. He led a quiet life of the somewhat bewildered. The quietness could be a clue to trouble with speech and language comprehension. He may have also rocked himself or concentrated at length on a single activity. He is described in the link as not showing emotion to the Jury, something which could lead to a Jury to believe he, or someone like him, was not showing remorse. An odd statement overall as if Alan was not remorseful, it was consistent with innocence. The article describes an autistic person not showing emotions even despite feeling them - in other words appearing as if a cold fish in his own murder trial.
I have followed this case for years, always concerned by the victim's son's description of their father's attackers who they fought off at their front door. I later read that Alan's main supporter was his late mother who sold the family home to fund a fight to have his conviction overturned. Alan was paroled fairly smartly, I doubt that he admitted guilt, but the prison authorities and Parole Board must have had concerns about his guilt. But foremost the arresting police ignored that Alan was different from the attacker's description given by the 2 brothers. They were neither the same height or race. No doubt Alan didn't represent any danger to other inmates or prison staff - but still, there he was, going through depositions, a trial and an appeal without anyone batting an eyelid, especially those investigating police who took Alan's confusion over some missing items as a sign of guilt. Hello!, what about his size, his white face and the fact he came across at least a little confused.
The police and the Courts let down Alan Hall, his late mother, and the Easton family. Police wanted a conviction and they got it - but justice was never involved. A word Alan would probably be unable to spell. This leads me to the second disturbing feature of this case its characteristics shown in another infamous case.
There was another man (well, a boy at the time actually) sentenced to life imprisonment and battered by the parole board for not admitting guilt. He too was from South Auckland. His name is Teina Pora, and like Alan, it has been written about before on this blog. Later in life, he was diagnosed with Feotal Alchohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD).
Equally innocent as Alan, Teina had gone to the police station to falsely finger 2 gang members for the murder of Susan Burdett. The reason for doing that was to gain a reward. Somehow he confessed to willing police after which he asked if his baby daughter would still get the reward. He had no compunction in sending 2 innocent men away for life and may not have comprehended that he too would be sentenced to life for a crime he had not committed. Within the prison, he said to have been a nark, a dangerous thing to which his alertness to must have been diminished. Here are some life long symptoms of FASD
Abnormal facial features, such as smooth ridge between the nose and upper lip.
Small head size.
Shorter than average height.
Low body weight.
Poor coordination.
Difficult with attention.
Poor memory.
Teina is certainly a short man but had been a promising league player. However, his confusion as to the trouble he was in with police certainly is evident even in the edited tapes of the long interviews he was put through whilst being refused a lawyer. At the time he was just a teenager, later it was said that his intellectual age at that point was around that of an 8-year-old. Upon his release, he forgave family members who had given false evidence against him for a reward. His background had been the pits, his alcoholic mother dying young.
But here again, he was a victim of the system. Another murder case to be solved, no concern for arresting police that Teina in his 'confession' could not show police where the murder happened, nor describe the victim.
The police in charge of these 2 cases must have also suffered from FASD or Autism if unable to tell they were arresting the wrong young man in Alan's case, or wrong child in Teina's case. They have never been censored let alone prosecuted. The leader of their police district at the time is now New Zealand's Commissioner of police who spoke highly at the funeral of a police officer who planted evidence in another South Auckland case which Arthur Thomas was wrongly convicted of on - well, planted evidence.
Tim McKinnell, an ex-police detective who helped exonerate Teina Pora is the man advancing Alan's case. I am sure that will be successful. One must wonder why it is someone like he, with insight, logic, and honesty is not New Zealand's Commissioner of Police, or why men such as he does not appear to feature much in the NZ Police hierarchy.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/02/autism-traits-of-convicted-killer-alan-hall-raise-doubt-over-guilt.html
