Larry Williams Drive

So David Tamihere has finally got what he’s been fighting for for decades. The Supreme Court has quashed his convictions for murdering the two Swedish backpackers all those years ago. Now this doesn’t mean a retrial will necessarily happen. That’s up to the Crown, which must decide whether it wants to pursue the charges again. In a nutshell, this all comes down to the jailhouse snitch - Conchie Harris - who claimed Tamihere confessed the murders to him. Two years ago, the Court of Appeal ruled Harris’ evidence could not be relied upon and that it was therefore a miscarriage of justice to find Tamihere guilty. However, the Court of Appeal still found Tamihere was guilty, based on what it described as new evidence. The Supreme Court has now ruled that this was not the Court of Appeal’s role. Determining guilt is a matter for a jury, which is why today’s decision has been made. So we will see what happens next. But there is more at stake here than just Tamihere’s guilt or innocence. Serious questions now have to