CONVICTING THE INNOCENT

The right to silence looked at in New Zealand

By Kate Shuttleworth New Zealand Herald

5:30 AM Sunday Jul 22, 2012

Gil Elliott, Garth McVicar and Greg King
at the Hot Tub debate at Victoria University
Photo Kate Shuttleworth

He helped Ewen Macdonald get off a murder charge by not putting him on the witness stand, but top criminal defense lawyer Greg King can see an accused's right to silence one day coming to an end.

King was involved in a panel discussion at Victoria University's law faculty on Friday evening, discussing legal procedures with Sensible Sentencing Trust chairman Garth McVicar and Gil Elliott, the father of murdered Dunedin university student Sophie Elliott.

On the contentious issue of an accused's right to silence, King conceded the rules might one day change.

He defended Macdonald's not taking the stand in the recent high-profile Scott Guy murder trial, saying he had answered every question in a 40-hour police interview, giving the jury plenty of time to see his version of events.

But he said there was a contradiction in the system when people charged with fraud could have their right to silence removed.

"If your right to silence can be taken away from you because of benefit fraud, and you're being investigated in a murder charge ... why do you have it there?" King asked

He suggested one option in the future might be allowing the prosecution to apply to a judge for an order to make it compulsory for an offender to take the stand if it was considered vital enough.

McVicar said the right to silence created an "offender-friendly, criminal-centered legal process".

"I don't think Greg needed to rely on the right to silence in his last case [the Guy trial] - he'd already proven that a doubt existed."

But McVicar said New Zealand should follow the UK's lead in getting rid of the offender's right to silence.

"It appears our legal system is not about truth - if it was the right to silence would not exist, “said McVicar.

Elliott told the audience that King, who represented Clayton Weatherston - the man convicted of murdering his daughter -, was the only person who talked to him and his wife, Lesley, through their trial.

"The prosecution ... just ignored us.”

Peter’s Comment

Before the right to silence became law in most civilized countries many innocent people were convicted solely because of their inability to foot it with high-powered prosecutors.

It meant that the police could always get a conviction when the pressure was on them to solve a case. All they had to do was go out and arrest any pathetic specimen who couldn't defend himself. And they did.

Isn’t it better that they should not bring a charge until they have enough stand alone evidence to convince a jury?

Exposing accused people to the peril of inadvertent self incrimination is tantamount to having a law that demands that households leave doors open so that burglars have easy access.

Police and prosecutors, given the chance, will prey on people who are vulnerable. 

THE ASKER TRILOGY

GUN LAWS AND MURDER RATES

America Is a Violent Country

JUL 20TH, 2012  From Kieran Healy  http://www.kieranhealy.org/blog/

The terrible events in Colorado this morning prompted me to update a post about comparative death rates from assault across different societies. The following figures are from the OECD for deaths due to assault per 100,000 population from 1960 to the present. As before, the most striking features of the data are (1) how much more violent the U.S. is than other OECD countries (except possibly Estonia and Mexico, not shown here), and (2) the degree of change—and recently, decline—there has been in the U.S. time series considered by itself. Note that “assault” as a cause of death does not distinguish the mechanism of death (gunshot, stabbing, etc.). If anyone knows of a similar time series for homicides specifically, let me know.

Peter’s Comment

The difference is guns. America has one of the easiest accesses to guns laws in the world.

Americans buy guns for protection but it rarely works out that way.

A typical ratio of gun murders to total murders in most countries is less than 50% involving guns. The USA has a similar rate of non-gun murders. However, because of easy access to guns the statistics show that the higher overall murder rate is attributed entirely to guns.

Think about the countless mass shootings. What other murder means could render such horrendous statistics? Strangulation, stabbing, bashing? Could any of those means take a toll of dozens of lives in minutes the way shooting can?

America has a high murder rate because too many people buy guns for protection and others buy guns because they a military nutters.

Here in New Zealand our murder rate is low and getting lower. We have laws which impose very tight controls on sporting weapons and it is virtually impossible to get a firearm for any other purpose. Even our police don’t carry guns except in special circumstances.

America, get rid of your guns and your country will be safer.

HIGHWAY AMERICA

TRUCKING IN OUTBACK AUSTRALIA

Road Train life not for everyone

It takes a special kind of man, or woman, to drive in Australia's harsh outback where there are no towns and no backup when the chips are down.

Watch the video, listen to the Outback drawl and see if it's a job you could do. Australia needs experienced drivers, like the one in the video.

The advice about avoiding kangaroos is sound. I know from personal experience.

http://youtu.be/5gWFsFnswLs

BERLIN WALL TO BE REBUILT

Cash-strapped Berlin stalked by 540-year-old debt

Reuters – 15 hours ago

BERLIN (Reuters) - The sleepy hamlet of Mittenwalde in eastern Germany could become one of the richest towns in the world if Berlin were to repay it an outstanding debt that dates back to 1562.

A certificate of debt, found in a regional archive, attests that Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders on May 28 1562, to be repaid with six percent interest per year.

According to Radio Berlin Brandenburg (RBB), the debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros ($136.79 million).

Adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions, by RBB's estimates.

Town historian Vera Schmidt found the centuries-old debt slip in the archive, where it had been filed in 1963. Though the seal is missing from the document, Schmidt told Reuters that she was certain the slip was still valid.

"In 1893 there was a debate in which the document was examined and the writing was determined to be authentic," Schmidt said.

Schmidt and Mittenwalde's Mayor Uwe Pfeiffer have tried to ask Berlin for their money back. Such requests have been made every 50 years or so since 1820 but always to no avail.

Reclaiming the debt would bring significant riches to Mittenwalde, a seat of power in the middle ages, which now has a population of just 8,800. Red brick fragments of medieval fortifications still dot the leafy town center.

The town's Romanesque church was once the provost seat for Paul Gerhardt, one of Germany's most prolific hymn writers. Gerhardt, who lived there briefly in the 17th century, is the only noted Mittenwalde resident to date.

Schmidt and Pfeiffer met with Berlin's finance senator Ulrich Nussbaum, who ceremonially handed them a historical guilder from 1539. The guilder was put in a temporary display at the Mittenwalde museum.

"This case shows that debts always catch up with you, no matter how old they are," Nussbaum told the Berliner Zeitung paper.

The debt-laden German capital would have difficulty meeting Mittenwalde's demands anyway. According to a report released by the senate finance administration in June 2012, Berlin is already close to 63 million euros in the red.

(Reporting by Sophie Duvernoy, editing by Paul Casciato)

@YahooNZBusiness 

Peter's Comment

So it's true. The Berlin Wall is to be rebuilt to keep out the debt collectors.

http://www.gypsybooks.co.nz

https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Peter+Blakeborough

NO RECESSION IN PERU

Lima, Peru

Peru Economic Activity Increased 6.47 Percent In May
by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES Thursday, July 19, 2012

Peru’s economy grew by 6.47 percent in May, which was higher than economic growth a month earlier, as domestic demand remained strong and also the demand abroad for non-traditional products.

Peru’s national statistics bureau, INEI, said the construction sector rose 15.8 percent in May, boosted by domestic consumption of cement and progress in works in the mining sector, shopping malls, industrial units and road infrastructure.

The agriculture sector gained 7.75 percent in May, while the restaurant and hotel industry rose 8.8 percent.

Finance and insurance sector activity rose 6.83 percent, while transportation and communications increased 6.33 percent. Commerce grew by 6.47 percent and electricity and water rose 5.34 percent in May.

The manufacturing sector rose 2.69 percent in May, while mining and hydrocarbon activity gained 1.28 percent. Fishing activity was the only sector that saw declines, down 7.63 percent in May, according to the government.

In April, Peru’s economy expanded by 4.37 percent, while a number of economists expect it to grow 6 percent in 2012.

Peter’s Comment

Who said there is a worldwide recession? I doesn’t seem to have hit Peru yet.

However, their figures appear a little misleading. I’m sure it was never intending that the quoted monthly economic growth rate should be multiplied by 12. The percentage increase for May has already been adjusted to show an annual rate of 7.75%. That’s still pretty good.

http://www.gypsybooks.co.nz

https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Peter+Blakeborough

DRUG ADDICTION

Bottom of Form

Drug decriminalization in Portugal decreases number of addicts

After 11 years, the effectiveness of the policy has been measured.

Samuel Blackstone, Business Insider July 18, 2012 16:50

A TV cameraman records the three-ton cocaine seizure on
February 3, 2006 in Braga, northern Portugal. Many nations
thinking about decriminalizing drugs may look to
Portugal as an example.
(Miguel Riopa /AFP/Getty Images)

On July 1, 2001, Portugal decriminalized every imaginable drug, from marijuana, to cocaine, to heroin. Some thought Lisbon would become a drug tourist haven, others predicted usage rates among youths to surge.

Eleven years later, it turns out they were both wrong.

Over a decade has passed since Portugal changed its philosophy from labeling drug users as criminals to labeling them as people affected by a disease. This time lapse has allowed statistics to develop and in time, has made Portugal an example to follow.

First, some clarification.

Portugal's move to decriminalize does not mean people can carry around, use, and sell drugs free from police interference. That would be legalization. Rather, all drugs are "decriminalized," meaning drug possession, distribution, and use is still illegal. While distribution and trafficking is still a criminal offense, possession and use is moved out of criminal courts and into a special court where each offender's unique situation is judged by legal experts, psychologists, and social workers. Treatment and further action is decided in these courts, where addicts and drug use is treated as a public health service rather than referring it to the justice system (like the US), reports Fox News.

Peter’s Comment

The drug policies of most countries, including New Zealand, are not working in spite of billions of dollars budgeted worldwide trying to beat the problem.

Perhaps Portugal has the answer. A radically different approach is certainly needed.

Treating drug addiction as a disease is an enlightened policy and most people would understand that no amount of punishment will ever cure sickness or disease.

The Asker Trilogy

TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Tombstone, Arizona

If you are cruising Interstate 10 in Arizona just east of Tucson there is a great little scenic detour that you can take when you get to Benson.

Tombstone founder
Ed Schiefflin

Go south on Route 80 for about 20 miles (31 kilometers) and you will come to historic Tombstone, famous for its Boot Hill cemetery and the 1881 Gunfight at the O. K. Corral.

Tombstone was founded in 1879 by mining prospector Ed Schieffelin. He was warned that if he ventured into areas occupied by Apache Indians the only stone he would get would be a tombstone. So he called the place Tombstone.

Schiefflin found silver, a town sprung up and by 1881 there was a population of 14,000. Tombstone had two banks, three newspapers, 110 saloons, 14 gambling halls and an array of shops and theaters.

But there was conflict in the town and county. The town and the county each had its own cowboy enforcers with the Earp brothers (five of them) on one side and the McLaurys and some ring-ins on the other side.

The conflict quickly escalated into open warfare with a climax that became famous as The Gunfight at the OK Corral. Within 30 seconds Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton were dead. Surviving the shoot-out were the Earp brothers; Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan. Morgan was later killed and Wyatt was injured in reprisal raids.

After the Earps left Arizona Territory the next year the county sheriff hired 15 year-old gunslinger Burt Alford to bring order to the town, which he did for three years until overtaken by drink.

The main industry in Tombstone now is tourism.

Boot Hill cemetery got its name from the fact many of its now quiet residents were tough guys who died with their boots on.

A famous epitaph stands over the remains of Les (Lester) Moore and reads:

HERE LIES LES MOORE,
FOUR SLUGS FROM A FORTY-FOUR,
NO LES NO MORE

Photos courtesy of TombstoneWeb.com: http://www.tombstoneweb.com/