Ellis v R [2022] NZSC 114, (2022) 29 CRNZ 60

On 31 July 2019, the Supreme Court granted Peter Ellis leave to appeal against convictions of sexual offending against seven children attending Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre where he was a teacher. Mr Ellis died on 4 September 2019 before the appeal could be heard. The Court found there was jurisdiction to allow an appeal to continue despite Mr Ellis’ death. Expert evidence of tikanga Māori principles was relevant and admissible.

Commentary on this decision has been added to Adams on Criminal Law — Evidence under s 26 of the Evidence Act 2006 (see [EA26.02]).

Ellis v R [2022] NZSC 115, (2022) 29 CRNZ 143

The Supreme Court considered new expert evidence regarding the reliability of children’s disclosures of sexual abuse. The Court found that susceptibility to suggestibility and false memory was exacerbated by the delay between the alleged events and interviews, and there were multiple sources which could have contaminated the children’s memories. The Court held that the impact of the accepted contamination was not fully explained to the jury. The convictions were overturned.

Commentary on this decision has been added to Adams on Criminal Law — Evidence under ss 5 and 25 of the Evidence Act 2006 (see [EA5.03], [EA25.02(1)(d)] and [EA25.04(2)]).