Hall report due but may not be released
A report on Alan Hall’s wrongful conviction is due today, but Solicitor-General Una Jagose hasn’t decided whether she will release it publicly.
Hall was convicted of murdering Auckland father-offive Arthur Easton in 1985.
Despite repeated appeals, and evidence indicating he was innocent, Hall spent 19 years in prison.
In June, the Supreme Court quashed Hall’s conviction, citing police deliberately altering a crucial eyewitness’s evidence, the prosecution concealing witness statements, and Hall, who has an intellectual disability, being unfairly interviewed by police.
Jagose immediately appointed Wellington barrister Nicolette Levy, KC, to review the Crown’s involvement in Hall’s case.
‘‘I am determined to find out why and how Mr Hall, Mr Easton, and both their families have been so severely let down by the justice system,’’ Jagose said at the time.
‘‘My focus now is on understanding how the Crown’s role in this miscarriage occurred and why the criminal justice system failed to remedy it earlier.’’
Jagose also stressed the need for the public to have trust and confidence in the justice system.
‘‘Mr Hall, Mr Easton’s family, and the public need to understand the factors that led to this miscarriage.’’
However, Jagose is now not committing to releasing Levy’s report, saying she will decide whether to make it available to Hall, the Eastons, and the public, after reading it.
In June, Stuff revealed that Crown Law was made aware of the problems with Hall’s case in 2018, but did nothing. Journalist Mike Wesley-Smith
approached Crown Law again in 2020 with information about evidence tampering, but was rebuffed, with Crown Law claiming it could not look at the case.
Alan Hall’s brother Geoff Hall said the family absolutely wanted to see Levy’s report.
‘‘Alan has a right to know what happened to him – that’s part of the healing process.’’
He also insisted the report must be released to the public.
‘‘It really does need to go out to everybody and for it to be totally transparent.
‘‘It’s important for the public to feel confident in Crown Law, and for them to take ownership of things that have happened. And you can only really do that when you open the books right up.’’ he said.