In 1979 members of the jury, judge and lawyers in a drugs trial were taken to inspect a site of relevance to the case – an abandoned freezing works in Gisborne. This was the first time that a jury had been taken to view a crime scene. Trial by jury, where a person’s guilt or innocence is decided by a panel of 12 citizens, has always been a part of New Zealand law. It gives the public a stake in the administration of the criminal justice system.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Reference: Negative Number C221
by Allan Peake
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