Granting David Bain millions of dollars in compensation would be a "difficult sell" for the Government, a University of Canterbury law professor says.
The Government has ordered a second opinion on the case, this time from New Zealand's foremost specialist, Robert Fisher QC, after a retired Canadian judge concluded Mr Bain was innocent and should be compensated.
Chris Gallavin from the University of Canterbury's law school told Radio New Zealand today that compensation was a difficult issue for the Government, given the polarising nature of the case.
"For many people the thought of David Bain getting compensation - for something that rightly or wrongly many people in New Zealand believe that he may have got away with murder - is going to be quite a difficult sell I think for the Government.
"We're going to have every amateur sleuth and investigator in the country poring over the report to see if they can chink some of the armour."
Dr Gallavin said the guidelines for how much compensation should be granted gave a starting point of $100,000 per year of incarceration.
"Thirteen years in prison at a straight $100,000 a year is $1.3 million and it's quite conceivable that he'd get quite a considerable sum in addition to that."
Read more: New twist in David Bain compo case