KEY POINTS:
Yesterday was a significant day for convicted double murderer John Barlow as he had his first parole hearing and was told he has secured a two-day Privy Council appeal hearing in February.
Barlow is serving a minimum 14-year jail term for the 1994 murders of father and son businessmen Eugene and Gene Thomas in their central Wellington office.
Convicted in a rare third trial, Barlow has steadfastly maintained his innocence and faced his first Parole Board hearing still fighting to clear his name.
With the aim of achieving that goal, Barlow's legal team has managed to secure dates for a Privy Council appeal hearing.
Crown lawyer John Pike told the Dominion Post a fixture had been set down for February 25 and 26, but those dates would have to be convenient for Barlow's counsel before the appeal proceeded.
This is also a rare move, as the Privy Council has agreed to hear only 10 New Zealand appeals in the past 150 years.
His lawyer, Greg King, would not discuss the appeal but has said Barlow wanted to leave prison an innocent man - rather than a paroled murderer.
Barlow's wife, Angela, agreed.
"He didn't commit the murders so we want the convictions quashed," she said earlier this year.
"You don't need to have that hanging over your head the rest of your life. We just want to put this out of our lives."
Mr King had earlier said the Barlow case would hinge on FBI evidence used in the third trial that compared the metal in the bullets that killed the father and son with bullets Barlow had.
The technique has been discredited overseas and convictions in the United States have been overturned as a result.
The Parole Board reserved its decision yesterday.
- NZPA
