The Crown's Case against Scott Watson Looks to be Destroyed.
Literally, less than 3 months away from The Court Of Appeal's hearing into Scott's case the Crown is squirming in every way possible. It's not a good look and one could consider that the Solicitor General is trying to find a way out as Scott's case finally implodes.
I've often written here that when a wrongful conviction begins to crack it does so spectacularly. It is unprecedented for the Crown's highest official to appear to panic in every way possible. As the article by Mike White shows along with the comments of Chris Watson (Scott's dad) The Crown does not like it when it no longer holds the upper hand.
Just how poor the identification procedures are in this case has never been generally accepted because the police for so long have shown witnesses photos of a person often saying the person is the suspect and giving details of his or her behaviour and how abhorrent it has been. In other words, expressing the need for the witness to "help" the police to put the suspect away.
Readers will remember how for decades the Crown has said that its "hair evidence" was without question, proof of Scott's guilt. In fact, as I have also said before - Judith Collins when Minister of Justice in an earlier Government said the 2 hairs held the case together. Something I thought of as a challenge and an extraordinarily big call. As that was later considered by Sir Panckhurst in a Royal Prerogative of Mercy application there was a chance to continue to read and delve further into the case.
Very soon every apparently solid point of evidence was collapsing, mostly from reading the Crown's own file. As that evidence imploded it showed the points made by people such as Mike Kalaugher, Keith Hunter, Warwick Jenness and Chris Watson himself culminated in a picture of innocence once the hairs were on slippery ground. That had earlier culminated in the doco Doubt by Yvonne McKay which revealed interviews with people who saw the couple alive after they were said to be dead. A good reading of the file as to the key points against Scott showed they were doubtful at best and anything assisting him was not presented to the Courts - lost if you like in a sea of paper and perhaps an arrogance that no one would find them. But if you look on the horizon the hens are coming home to roost and particular detectives and scientists have found themselves out with corrupt practices and arrogance that they were above the Law they chose to administer.
More people came forward or were approached in what has been similar to the results of WW2 "dam busters," as the real ketch was traced and Scott was excluded as the mystery man. It would be fair to say most of that was completed by around 2020-22 and since then the Crown has tried to squirm out in every way possible and many people will believe that the Parole Board itself has acted in a retributive way toward Scott as a result.
When once the position was that Scott could not be released because of his "dangerousness" and "callous" crimes while others like Arthur Thomas, David Tamihere, Teina Pora, Gail Maney, and many more who also refused to admit crimes they did not commit were released anyway. What happens now when there are issues before the Court where evidence of Scott's innocence is being withheld by the very top Crown Law Official? Will she soon find herself in Contempt of the Court? And those she tries to protect are finally brought to Justice. If ever a case demands police pay for their crimes of wittingly imprisoning innocent people - this must be it.
Crown attempts to withhold crucial new evidence in Scott Watson case | The Post
