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After serving 12 years in jail, David Bain's name has finally been cleared after the jury at his retrial found him not guilty of murdering five members of his family in Dunedin in 1994.
The jury in the retrial returned with their verdict at the Christchurch High Court just after 4:30pm, taking under six hours to reach the outcome and they said the words that David Bain had been waiting to hear for 15 years.
He faced five charges of murder, and he was found not guilty on every count.
Outside the court Bain, standing alongside his long-time supporters and legal team, was overwhelmed.The first time he tried to speak he couldn't get words out, but he managed to get some words out a few minutes later.
"All I can say is that without Joe (Karam)... without all the love of the people that have supported me since day one...I would not have made through it this far."
"Joe has been there thruogh everything for me," he says.
Long-time support Karam says he was not surprised by the
verdict, saying he always knew that once people heard all the
evidence they would realise Bain didn't do it.
"I wasn't surprised...because all I ever said was give us a day in
court. No jury will ever convict this man. The evidence against him
is nothing for more than smoke without fire," he said outside the
courtroom. "What has really mattered is that the truth has fallen
where it has always been."
He says he is delighted for Bain, saying he's the one who has had to suffer for all these years.
Later in the evening, surrounded by supporters, Bain told TV 3's John Campbell that to hear the words "not guilty" was a huge relief.
"It took a huge weight off my shoulders," he says.
Karam told Campbell that the sad thing is "this system&various governments, objectionable attitude by police."
Defence lawyer Michael Reed paid tribute to his legal team and to David Bain, saying Bain is "totally, utterly overcome" and his freedom has not dawned on him yet.
Reed says any compensation for Bain is a matter for the future.
Watch their comments on the steps of the Highcout here.
The jury's job done
Following the verdict announcement, Justice Panckhurst thanked the
jurors for their efforts and excused them from jury service for the
next 10 years.
On Friday morning before deliberations began, the jury
asked two questions of the judge relating to
reasonable doubt and what a comment he made about excluding Robin
meant.
At his first trial in 1995, Bain, now 37, was found guilty of the
murders of his parents, two sisters and brother in the family's
Every Street home in June 1994. He served 12 years of a minimum 16
year jail sentence before the Privy Council ruled in May 2007 that
there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice.
Five days after the Law Lords in London quashed his convictions, a judge at the High Court in Christchurch granted Bain bail.
The decision by London's Law Lords specified that the Crown did not have to pursue a retrial and Bain's lawyers made one last attempt to stop the case, arguing that the charges should be dropped and that David should go free.
But Solicitor-General David Collins QC said a retrial was appropriate and the Privy Council did not acquit Bain, saying his guilt or innocence in the light of new evidence could only be decided by a jury.
Bain himself was not unduly concerned about the prospect of a second trial, saying: "I don't care one way or another. I will leave that up to the system to make their decision."
And long-time supporter Joe Karam told Close Up in 2007 that David was "delighted this whole thing can be aired in this forum it's going to be aired in".
All the arguments for and against stopping the trial were suppressed so there was no chance of influencing potential jurors.
And Justice Graham Panckhurst also suppressed all information surrounding the reason for a change in venue from Dunedin to Christchurch, saying the relocation was expedient for the ends of justice. Bain's lawyer Michael Reed QC said the decision went some way to ensuring a fairer retrial, although Auckland was their first choice.
Bain was released from Christchurch Men's Prison to Karam's home in Te Kauwhata, in the northern Waikato and in August 2007 he was allowed to move to west Auckland. Bail conditions did not allow him to set foot in the South Island, Hamilton or Wellington, where extended family members lived.
The retrial was initially set to start in August 2008 but a six month adjournment was granted when Reed asked for more time.
Bain was allowed back to Dunedin for the first time in February in order to prepare for his retrial but the planned start was further delayed at the request of both the Crown and the defence. The empanelling of the jury of five women and seven men did not take place until March 2009.
