Out of the Scott Watson Archives, some work is in progress.
It is expected that the result of this week's appeal to the Court of Appeal over what evidence can be produced at Scott's full appeal later this year will take some time to be decided.
Here is an indication of some of the new material which in the interests of Justice should be included and hopefully will. The Watson convictions are in big trouble and that he remains in prison is added to the travesty.
Meanwhile an insight here:
The Peter Firmin statement is insightful as to the type of
‘help’ offered to witnesses who would repeat perjury for the Crown to earn a
get out of gaol card free or to preserve a professional career as with Mr. and
Mrs. C. Sir Graham took that into account in his Report with the 2 prison secret
witnesses. There is a reason he should have gone further taking the very real
risk out of the evidence of Mrs. C bolstered by reading Peter Firmin’s account of how
false evidence was offered to be bought.
More witnesses have come forward. It is also of moment that
the affidavit of the former police officer Mike Chappell attached to the RPOM
proper becomes supported in a way that must be considered as part of this plea.
Due to that happening a further affidavit is attached to show how the file was
able to be manipulated – then more instances of how that could happen.
There is a fresh affidavit of Tony Kiernan who gave
evidence in the first trial and whose video interview has been submitted. Mr. Kiernan has spoken of 20 years of regret for not having spoken out fully at the
trial and feeling somehow responsible for police inquiry he had no control over.
Sir Graham noted the Kiernan position in his report so the further examples here
of the same police misconduct should push the matter further to impact the
Scott Watson plea.
Days after reading an ‘opinion’ piece by a Ms. Brotherston
who claimed to have been a journalist at the Watson trial that made claims that
there was no mystery ketch and backed that up with the claim that there was not
a single photo of the ketch – Mr. Kiernan revealed information about photos
taken of the ketch. Others included here, have also spoken about photos and indeed
videos of the ketch. Already submitted in the RPOM proper is a series of ‘Close
Up’ interviews regarding both ketch sightings and a video of the ketch. Mr
Watson needed to have those viewed along with all other material he has
submitted.
Mr. Kiernan is aware that photos of the ketch were taken
from his boat Nugget by people aboard. Their names are included in his new
affidavit. What is striking about Mr. Kiernan’s affidavit is that it conflicts
with his statements and trial evidence, he previously identified the Alliance
as being the mystery ketch, something which he now retracts, although he says
at one point, he did tell police about the mystery ketch in details consistent
with his new affidavit. All Mr. Kiernan’s known statements and a job sheet
relating to those are attached. The job sheet differs in content to the
statements in material ways which support Mr. Kiernan’s claim of saying in his
first statement that he saw the mystery ketch and indeed drew a picture for
police of the ketch. Furthermore, job sheet #1414 makes it clear that from
the outset Mr. Kiernan told police he knew the scow the Alliance which he
confirmed to police when he was shown a photo of the Alliance at the time of
his first interview. Mr. Kiernan need not have sketched the mystery ketch if, in
fact, it was the Alliance because he both knew the boat and police had shown him a photo of the boat at the time of his first interview.
Mr. Kiernan insists he made his first statement at Furneaux
Lodge to Picton police who wrote it out by hand before he signed it. He made a
second statement at Waikawa Bay Picton to 2 Christchurch Detectives which was
recorded in writing by 1 of the detectives and which he signed. He has asked
for these statements but never received them. As part of this inquiry, the Trial
evidence of Mr. Kiernan and all documentation held by the defence on this matter was sent to him. It appears the significance of job sheet #1414 was missed by the
defense for 20 years. No information was recorded in handwriting; one document
was deleted, critical parts of his first statements were replaced by retyped,
unsigned statements. This document transmission to Mr. Kiernan included job
sheet #14144 which mentions an instruction from Ms. Crutchley, one of the Crown
Prosecutors in this case. On that sheet is confirmed what is not confirmed in
any of the other paperwork. Namely, Mr. Kiernan in his first interview
where he had answered a plea for witnesses to come forward said he saw a ketch
in Endeavour Inlet on NYE, also confirmed he knew the Alliance from its Waikawa
Bay mooring and its recent history, also that he drew a sketch of the Mystery
Ketch for police in his first interview/statement. That statement is missing,
in the confusion, (and pressure on witnesses) along with Mr. Kiernan’s
unfamiliarity with the Court system resulted in his vital information not being
put before the Jury. His affidavit says that he felt intimidated by police just
before and during his evidence having been told the ketch he saw had been
eliminated from the inquiry.
The petitioner notes that instructions, as recorded on
job sheet #14144, will be referred to the prosecution and remain on file.
That being the case it appears reasonable to conclude that the prosecutors knew
that Mr. Kiernan had both reported a mystery ketch and drawn a sketch of it, and
had also said that he knew the scow, the Alliance, very well. None of this was revealed
to the defence or Jury, that is malfeasance.
Where once the authorities were able to deny the claims of
single witnesses such as Mr. Kiernan and Mr. Chappell with implications made
about their motivation, now by the sheer volume of others saying the same, or
similar things soundly promote their credibilities such as the number of them
and the consistency in what they reveal. It is shameful for the NZ Justice
system that so many people were ignored, threatened, or bullied in the name of Justice.
There have been criminal behaviour by police as high as the level of ex-Deputy
Commissioner Rob Pope in his role as OIC of this case. The means of how the manipulation
was undertaken is now shown. A broad section of New Zealanders attempted to do
their civic duty, yet their evidence was never heard