A Long Walk to Justice

Product Information

I find it mind boggling that 2 boys known to Jodi who dealt drugs to Luke and Jodi were at the very spot at the very time of the murder , I will tell you who has never been identified at the very spot at the very time Luke Mitchell , yeah mind boggling for sure . But the system’s already undermined – the fact these people went to jail undermined the system – get a grip.’

Bolton established an Innocence Project in New Orleans before returning to the UK and founding the Centre for Criminal Appeals which investigates wrongful convictions. Much of what you post here is the same sensationalist media garbage that plays such a huge part in convicting innocent people.There are many criticisms of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy process: it doesn’t investigate cases; it isn’t a dedicated unit with specific expertise in these cases; its operation isn’t transparent; it runs the risk of public pressure and political interference because of the Justice Minister’s involvement; that political involvement contravenes the traditional separation of powers between judiciary and executive; crucial decisions are left in the hands of a few bureaucrats; the referral rate is very low, with a sense it favours finality over justice; only a few QCs are used to review cases; and cases take too long to be reviewed – Scott Watson, convicted of murdering Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, waited four years for a decision.

The worry that patch-protection and political concerns may be taking priority over finding the truth and delivering justice is compounded by statements such as this, found in ministry documents: In 2006, retired judge Sir Thomas Thorp suggested up to 20 innocent people were in New Zealand jails. He later suggested this was an understatement.The justice system’s reluctance to consider mistakes might have been made by police, lawyers, judges and juries, was ludicrous. There are many reasons why people are wrongly convicted: faulty eyewitness identification; coerced or false confessions; non-disclosure of evidence by police; incorrect scientific or expert testimony; police malpractice or blunders; poor representation by defence lawyers.