New Zealand · Auckland, Papatoetoe

Teina Pora: wrongly convicted, exonerated

Convicted of Murder, sexual violation by rape and aggravated burglary arising from the death of a woman in Papatoetoe in 1992.

What went wrong

• False confession, with new evidence that he had foetal alcohol spectrum disorder that was not identified at his trials

From conviction to exoneration

1. 1994Convicted at age 17, and convicted again at a retrial in 2000.^1,2
2. 2014Released from prison.²
3. March 2015The Privy Council quashed the convictions and did not order a retrial.^1,2
4. 15 June 2016Retired judge Rodney Hansen QC found him innocent on the balance of probabilities, and Justice Minister Amy Adams apologised and accepted his innocence on behalf of the Crown.^1,2
5. 8 November 2017Compensation was increased by 988,099 dollars to adjust for inflation.³

Compensation

2,520,949.42 New Zealand dollars accepted by Cabinet in June 2016 with an apology, increased by 988,099 dollars in November 2017 for inflation, a total of 3,509,048.42 dollars

Today

Convictions quashed in 2015, with the Crown accepting his innocence and paying compensation.

Sources

1. New Zealand Law Society, Compensation of $2.5 million for Teina Pora (15 June 2016)
2. 1News, You have suffered considerably: Teina Pora to receive $2.5 million compensation offer (15 June 2016)
3. New Zealand Law Society, Teina Pora gets another $1 million (8 November 2017)