Alan Hall was told he would have to pay for his own flights to attend the quashing of his murder conviction.
Legal aid told Hall he would be denied funding to fly to Wellington in order to have his conviction quashed.
Hall talked with his lawyer last minute to make sure that didn't happen but he was told he still had to wear an ankle bracelet on his flight home.
"Look when Alan flies up we are going to have to put his monitoring bracelet on his ankle," Probation Services allegedly told Hall's brother.
Alan Hall was accused of stabbing 52-year-old Arthur Easton to death in his Papakura home in 1985. He was imprisoned in 1986 and released from jail in the 1990s only to be sent back for breaching his parole in 2012. He was then let out of prison in March 2022.
The Crown admitted he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice as police intentionally hid evidence of Easton's murder from the defence and the jury.
Former Newshub Nation reporter Mike Wesley-Smith conducted a six-year investigation into Alan Hall's case for Newshub Nation and hosted the podcast series 'Grove Road' which looked into the murder case and the process behind it.
Speaking with Newshub Nation on Saturday, he thought the indignity of Hall's case continued right up until the last minute.
"It speaks to the inflexibility of some of these processes. I was astonished that it was conceived as being a possibility."
Wesley-Smith wanted to point out that this case linked to a broader problem within the court process and the reluctance to admit to any wrongdoings.
"I was pointing out there's this clear abuse of the court process with respect to his trial," he said.
"It wasn't about Alan's guilt or innocence. This was about the court process and the Supreme Court - it was abuse really clearly.
"I thought that anyone who had a belief in maintaining the integrity of their justice system would recognise that and unfortunately it wasn't until the year, that it actually happened."
Wesley-Smith thought the decision to declare a miscarriage of justice came because the Crown decided to handle the case differently compared to previous years.
"I think a huge amount of that was down to the Crown's approach which really was a stark difference from the 36 years prior and a lot of credit has to go out to the Deputy Solicitor-General Madeleine Laracy - and her colleague Emma Hoskin was exemplary.
"They really helped pave the way for a very expeditious hearing, I think they saw all the problems the way everyone else did."
Wesley-Smith was disappointed it took so long for action to be taken for Hall to prove his innocence.
"Anyone who has any belief in the court system or wants to defend its processes, I would've thought, they would've seen that and wanted to jump into action but it was so slow for that to happen."
Hall spoke with AM earlier this week and despite his 36-year battle with the courts to prove his innocence, he still remained positive.
"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today… right this very second I'm living in the moment," Hall said.
Wesley-Smith wants the case to be looked into again to make sure this sort of abuse within the justice system doesn't continue.
"You can never say that there won't be another one like this out there. It is incumbent upon all of us - Crown lawyers, journalists, defence lawyers, and anyone - to be vigilant."
