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The mother of murder victim Katherine Sheffield says a court decision allowing the broadcast of a videotaped confession to the crime "is the first justice we have seen in almost 20 years".
The tape shows Noel Rogers confessing to Ms Sheffield's 1994 murder, but it was never shown
to the jury because a court ruled police had not informed him of his rights when conducting the interview.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that TVNZ could show the confession, bringing to an end the network's two-year battle with Mr Rogers' lawyers, who had argued it breached his right to privacy.
The ruling said Mr Rogers' privacy interests were outweighed by the interests of open justice.
"I didn't think we were ever going to get any justice for anything," said Ms Sheffield's mother, Judith Garrett.
"Kathy would be pleased the public can see this confession for themselves."
Ms Garrett alleged she was raped by a police officer in the Kaitaia police station in 1988. An investigation found there was no case and Ms Garrett also failed in an attempt to sue for damages in a civil case in 1994.
Ms Sheffield was murdered shortly afterwards, and over the next 11 years a saga unravelled beginning with a botched police investigation with the wrong man charged and ending with the acquittal of Mr Rogers in 2005.
Then last year Ms Garrett's rape case was reopened and went to trial after Louise Nicholas' allegations against some police officers.
The officer was acquitted and the criminal charges, as in the case of Mrs Nicholas, prevented Ms Garrett from giving evidence to the Commission of Inquiry.
Ms Garrett said the family had spread her daughter's ashes on a hill overlooking Northland's Doubtless Bay six weeks ago, thinking she would never get justice. "This is something for Kathy, this is something for our family. A little piece of justice."
Although the Supreme Court judges were critical of the police in giving TVNZ the tape in the first place, three out of five felt it was important the tape was in the public domain.
Justice Peter Blanchard said he did not accept the proposition that Mr Rogers' privacy would be invaded.
"Anyone who agrees to be interviewed for the purposes of a criminal investigation, and in that connection elects to make a statement to the police, cannot persuasively claim to have had a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning that occasion."
He also said: "In the present case, in which there may, rightly or wrongly, be public disquiet about the outcome of the judicial process, it is proper that all the visual and oral information on the videotape be publicly available."
Part of the tape was shown on One News last night but a more detailed version will run on the Sunday programme, which has spent five years investigating Ms Sheffield's death.
TVNZ head of news and current affairs Anthony Flannery described the Supreme Court's ruling as an important endorsement of the public's right to know.
"New Zealanders have a legitimate interest in, and right to know, all information surrounding Katherine Sheffield's tragic death and the process from investigation to trial," he said.
"Any desire to protect the privacy interests of an acquitted person should not outweigh legitimate debate. Full, informed debate cannot take place without the public seeing the video."
The Public Defence Service, which acted on Mr Rogers' behalf, had no comment to make last night.
In the interests of open justice
* Northland woman Katherine Sheffield was killed in 1994. Her boyfriend, Lawrence Lloyd, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, saying he couldn't remember what happened on the night she died.
* Lloyd served nine years before his conviction was overturned. Police then charged his nephew, Noel Rogers, with murder after he confessed and reconstructed the killing in a video interview.
* A court ruled the video was in breach of Mr Rogers' rights so it wasn't shown during his trial and he was acquitted of the charges.
* The Supreme Court has now ruled the interests of open justice outweighed Mr Rogers' right to privacy. The tape will be shown on TVNZ's Sunday programme.
