A lawyer for Malcolm Rewa, sentenced yesterday to 14 years in jail for the rape of Susan Burdett, says he cannot rule out the possibility that the serial rapist will appeal against the conviction.
Rewa's sentence was the maximum fixed jail term available and was handed down after a jury found him guilty last month of raping Susan Burdett in her South Auckland home in March 1992.
The jury was unable to agree on whether he was involved in killing her the same day.
Rewa's lawyer, Barry Hart, said outside the court that he would talk to Rewa about lodging an appeal, which must be filed within 10 days.
Rewa is already serving a sentence of preventive detention with a 22-year minimum non-parole period for sex offences against 24 women committed between 1987 and 1996.
The 14-year sentence handed down by Justice Robertson yesterday will be served concurrently.
It is the longest finite sentence available for rapes committed before 1993 when a law change raised the maximum sentence to 20 years.
Justice Robertson told Rewa yesterday: "This was a violation of a woman alone in her own home in what should have been a sanctuary for her. It was committed by a man committing other serious [sexual] offences at the time. I can see no mitigation for it."
A sentencing expert, Associate Professor Geoff Hall of Otago University's law school, said Rewa's sentence was the first he was aware of where the maximum penalty had been handed down for a single rape.
It was the second time Rewa had faced trial for the rape and murder of the Papatoetoe woman.
Last month, the Solicitor-General, John McGrath, QC, said the Crown would not proceed with a third murder trial.
A Mongrel Mob prospect, Teina Pora, last month lodged an appeal against his 1994 conviction for the murder of Susan Burdett.
Rewa gets 14 years for Burdett rape
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