Blessie Gotingco's body was found buried under scrub in Eskdale Cemetery in Birkdale.
Blessie Gotingco's body was found buried under scrub in Eskdale Cemetery in Birkdale.
A registrar in the High Court at Auckland could be in hot water after writing a column during a controversial murder trial.
The story about the Blessie Gotingco case, which ran in an overseas publication, contained several prejudicial comments that if seen by a juror could result in the trialbeing aborted. The murder trial began last week and the defendant's name suppression, which has been in place since he was charged, was extended for its duration to protect fair-trial rights.
In the piece, the registrar wrote where the hearing was taking place and discussed conversations he had had with Antonio Gotingco, the victim's husband.
General manager of higher courts Paula Tesoriero said the matter had been referred to the Chief High Court Judge.
"The Ministry of Justice is taking this very seriously and we are investigating," Ms Tesoriero said.
She would not comment on whether any action had been taken against the employee because they were "unable to discuss individual employment matters".
The man charged with the murder of Blessie Gotingco. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Ms Tesoriero said the ministry contacted the news site concerned to have the potentially prejudicial story removed. It was taken down at 6.30pm yesterday.
The registrar's story also contained several inaccuracies. He got the name of the senior Crown prosecutor wrong, as well as details about the defendant and Chris Wilkinson-Smith's role as amicus curiae.
Ms Tesoriero said there were clear rules for how ministry staff were to interact with the media.
"Rules for working with the media are covered in the ministry's code of conduct. This is required reading for our staff. The code says, 'only staff who are specifically authorised to speak on behalf of the ministry are permitted to make statements to respond to inquiries from the media regarding government policies or other Ministry matters'."
Mr Wilkinson-Smith - the defendant's lawyer until he was let go on the second day of the trial - said he would raise the matter with the Crown and Justice Timothy Brewer.
Wellington-based media lawyer Steven Price said he had never seen anything like it before.
"While the risks might be lower if publication occurs somewhere overseas where it's unlikely to be viewed by New Zealanders, I would have hoped that court staff would be particularly aware of the dangers here."
