Appeal for Taranaki mum who falsely confessed to baby death 30 years ago

A woman who admitted killing her baby daughter to protect her then-partner almost 30 years ago will appeal her conviction tomorrow in a bid to clear the heinous crime from her record.

In 1989 Terri Louise Friesen, then 34, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her 7-week-old baby, Chantelle.

She was convicted and sentenced to six months' supervision.

But 13 years later her former partner Brownie Walter Broughton walked into a Christchurch police station, admitted it was him and begged to be charged with manslaughter

He confessed to shaking his infant daughter to death and letting his de-facto partner take the blame.

Broughton said he had found God and wanted to atone for his sins.

He had earlier approached police in New Plymouth and tried to confess, but no action was taken.

Broughton was eventually convicted in relation to Chantelle's death - but Friesen's conviction was never expunged.

Tomorrow, more than 29 years after she was sentenced, she will take her case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to have her conviction overturned.

After Broughton confessed, Friesen told a court that she falsely admitted shaking the baby because she did not think the baby's father could handle spending time in jail.

She claimed the police also threatened that if one of them did not own up, her other daughter would be taken into Social Welfare care.

Chantelle died from non-accidental injuries as a result of being shaken.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had suffered from a brain injury and cracked ribs - an injury her mother says she knew nothing about.

In a 2001 interview with the Herald Friesen said she was seeking a pardon.

"I just want my name cleared," she said.

"I'm relieved that the truth is out there. I'm quite numb, it's pretty freaky."

The mother of seven described Broughton as a violent and evil man.

She claimed that at the time of Chantelle's death, police told her Broughton would die if he was sent to prison.

"He really looked like the broken one," she said.

"I was in a state of shock ... They looked at me as the hard one."

The Court of Appeal will hear Friesen's case tomorrow afternoon in Wellington.

Friesen recently appeared in the TVNZ television series I Am Innocent - which "tells the stories of those who were convicted of crimes, but maintained their innocence throughout".