‘Trial by media’ is a threat — Legal Assn

Press, 7 April 1979, Page 23

‘Trial by media’ is a threat — Legal Assn

Trial by the news media is threatening to overshadow trial by jury in New Zealand, according to the New Zealand Legal Association.

The association’s chairman (Mr D. J. L. Saunders) said that it was concerned about the recent tendency by the news media and the police to publish or issue public statements about alleged criminal activity, especially where an accused person was in the process of being charged or was about to face trial.

“Such action may well prejudice the accused’s prospect of obtaining a fair trial, and if allowed to continue unchecked may well lead to the undesirable position which has developed in some big countries, where trial by jury is overshadowed by a process known as trial by the media,” Mr Saunders said. “In New Zealand the police traditionally have been careful not to offend against the practice whereby matters which will be read in evidence at a subsequent hearing are not publicly discussed with the news media,” he said.. “After a recent robbery in Auckland, in which a big sum of money was stolen, a police statement was published to the effect that the money had been required for the drug trade. After the recovery of part of the money, a statement was made by a police officer that the balance was unlikely to be recovered, and was believed to have been absorbed into the drug world,” said Mr Saunders. “The statement was made

at. a time a person accused of the offence had appeared or pleaded to the charge. Even if the statement was true, or even if it was based on the accused’s statement to the police, this matter should not have been the subject of comment by either the police or the news media until such time as evidence had been properly received at a court hearing.

“Often such evidence at the preliminary hearing is suppressed to ensure that members of the public, from whom a jury panel will subsequently be drawn, are not prejudiced,” Mr Saunders said. “In recent weeks readers of a large metropolitan newspaper were advised of the arrest of a man alleged to be ‘Mr Big.’ The article quoted police sources as saying ‘the businessman is believed to be the mastermind behind big cannabis and heroin-smug-ling schemes, including the recent drug-running yacht on the West Coast’.” Mr Saunders said that the use of such material was highly prejudicial to the person accused, especially as he had the right to be tried by

a jury in due course. “Our association share with most members of the community its abhorrence of the illegal drug trade, but there can be no case for breaking accepted rules and standards simply because an alleged crime is a particularly bad one,” he said. The association believed that the community \could still be adequately informed about alleged criminal activity without a resulting prejudice to those awaiting hearing of their case.

“While sensational news may help to sell newspapers, the Legal Association can see no justification for this where an individual’s right to a fair trial is endangered,” Mr Saunders said.

“We therefore expect that members of the police will continue to show reluctance to be drawn into making statements concerning matters which are the subject of court proceedings,” he said.

“Similarly, we trust that members of the news media will consider the right of the individual to a fair trial to be at least as valid as the right of the public to be informed.”