From Newshub comes a new investigative podcast, Grove Road.
This is the story of the murder of Arthur Easton and the arrest of Alan Hall, a man with no alibi or answers.
But it's also a story about our system of justice - the power and trust we give to police and prosecutors… and their ability to find the truth.
Episode seven delves deeper into why a crucial witness statement was left out of Alan Hall's murder trial.
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Alan Hall was found guilty in 1986 of murdering Arthur Easton by a jury who had not been given the full story: a crucial witness statement was left out of the trial.
The witness told Detective Constable Bruce Hesketh at the time that he had seen a suspicious Maori man near the crime scene where Arthur Easton had been killed.
But this piece of information was left out of the trial because detectives of the homicide investigation deemed the witness unreliable.
Newshub spoke to Kelvin McMinn, who was Detective Senior Sergeant and headed the inquiry into Arthur Easton’s murder.
In an interview, he says Crown Prosecutor, Peter Kaye, was responsible for removing the witness’s description of the man he saw as Maori.
This was the same Crown Prosecutor who told the Court of Appeal all relevant evidence had been handed over.
Bruce Hesketh told Newshub there “has to be an appeal - there absolutely has to be an appeal. I mean, this is evidence that wasn't known at the time of the last appeal”.
Grove Road was created in partnership with Newshub Nation, which is made with help from NZ On Air.
Got a question or tip? Email it to groveroad@mediaworks.co.nz
