Serial rapist appeals murder conviction

Convicted serial rapist Malcolm Rewa has appealed against his conviction for murdering Susan Burdett in 1992. His lawyer, Mark Ryan, told the Court of Appeal in Wellington yesterday the appropriate outcome would be another trial – a fourth – ‘‘as unattractive as that might seem’’. Rewa had been so unhappy with his former lawyer, Paul Chambers, that he wanted to sack him during the trial in 2019, Ryan said. The judge should have been told that at the time. Crown lawyer Rebecca Thomson told the court the trial prosecutor had no inkling there was disharmony between Rewa and Chambers. Rewa was not challenged on the content of his statement and it should be seen as evidence of the truth, Ryan responded. He should have a trial where he was properly represented by an appropriately classified lawyer on legal aid, Ryan said. The court was told Chambers represented Rewa for free, had never done a murder trial before, and could not have acted for him on legal aid because he was not allowed to do so at that level. Rewa claims Chambers never told him he could apply for legal aid.