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Nigel Hampton, QC, on Close Up - Source: Close Up -
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Nigel Hampton QC believes David Bain still has a fight on his hands to get compensation, despite being found not guilty of killing five members of his family in 1994.
Hampton told Close Up that Bain has to prove on the balance of probabilities that it is more likely than not that he is completely innocent.
"It's a high hurdle, he's got some problems I think," Hampton said to Mark Sainsbury.
Hamtpon believes the relatively quick verdict suggests the jurors were fairly sure early on about where they were going.
Hampton says the decision may have rested on three key factors: Reasonable doubt over forensic evidence; material brought in as to possible motive for the father and public expectation of doing the right thing for David Bain. Hampton believes the sight of some jurors hugging David after the not guilty verdicts indicated the extent of the public expectation on them.
He says it is a sign the jurors feel they have done the right thing by David.
Hampton says New Zealand needs to look at the system and justice delayed is justice denied.
He says appellate structures are too constrained, too narrow and too legalistic. And he says the Court of Appeal has to take a very narrow legal view unlike a commission of inquiry. The Court of Appeal can only look at trial processes and matters of law that arose while a commission can look at whole spread of evidence and other material that might not have been called.
Hampton says in the UK and some Australian states a specially set up commission looks at claimed miscarriages of justice.
Retired high court judge Sir Thomas Thorpe called for a criminal conviction review commission several years ago and Hampton says there are good grounds to say we should have a similar system to stop these 15 year marathons which are "bad for all involved whichever side you are on".
