Privy Council hears murder appeal

LONDON - The Privy Council today heard the appeal against Bruce Howse's conviction for murdering his two stepdaughters in Masterton.

The five law lords who heard the case reserved their decision after a six-hour hearing.

Howse's lawyer Greg King, of Lower Hutt, said the decision might be available next month.

He said after the hearing that both he and the Crown representatives, John Pike and Grant Burston, had received a "very fair hearing".

"The arguments were very thoroughly tested by the law lords. They totally grasped and understood the points we were trying to advance."

In May last year, the Privy Council granted Howse the right to appeal his conviction for murdering Olympia Jetson, 11, and Saliel Aplin, 12, on December 4, 2001.

Mr King took Howse's case to the London-based court after the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in August 2003.

The Court of Appeal had agreed the trial was flawed - the jury heard some evidence it should not have done and the trial judge did not fix the problems in his summing up.

It agreed a miscarriage of justice deserving of a new trial had been shown, but used a proviso available to it not to order a retrial because, even without the flaws, it said a jury would have undoubtedly found Howse guilty.

Mr King's general argument to the Privy Council was that the use of that proviso when the trial was found to be "so tainted and deficient" was inconsistent with the minimum standards of criminal procedure granted under the New Zealand Bill of Rights, international rights conventions and natural justice.

This meant the appeal was of "exceptional public importance" to ensure that not just Howse, but any accused person, got the basic right to a fair trial, he argued.

Mr King said Howse, 41, who maintains his innocence, had his fingers crossed that his appeal would be granted.

"He's putting a lot of energy and a lot of hope into this -- he's got a lot riding on it."

At the Court of Appeal hearing, Howse had three years cut off the 28-year non-parole period he was initially ordered to serve. He is currently in Auckland's Paremoremo Prison.

Mr King funded the estimated $40,000 costs himself for last year's preliminary hearing before the Privy Council after Attorney-General Margaret Wilson refused to grant legal aid.

However, this decision was reversed in August last year after the council recommended legal aid be granted to Howse, who was classed as a "poor person", having less than £400 ($1194) to his name. Up until May last year the state had already paid $157,000 for Howse's defence. The legal aid granted in August would recompense Mr King's earlier costs as well as those for today's appeal.

Throughout its history the council has only ever agreed to hear a handful of criminal cases from New Zealand. Howse's appeal could be one of New Zealand's last hearings before the council, which has been superseded by the new Supreme Court.

- NZPA