'Not guilty' plea to Steven Wallace murder charge 31 July 2002 Constable Keith Abbott appeared in the New Plymouth High Court yesterday and entered a plea of not guilty to the murder or manslaughter of Steven Wallace on 30 April 2000. He was granted bail with conditions - that he surrender his passport, his firearms, and firearms' licence. Constable Abbott was remanded until September 9, the tentative date set for the hearing of two pre-trial applications: Susan Hughes, Abbott's lawyer, will be asking for all evidence from the prosecution's expert witnesses, except one, to be excluded; and Mr Rowan, prosecution lawyer on behalf of the Wallace family, will be applying to have the trial moved away from New Plymouth. Susan Hughes is opposing that application.
For background information, check out A step towards justice? The Chief Justice's judgment on the shooting of Steven Wallace; and the series of Peace Movement Aotearoa alerts and updates about the shooting which are all available on-line here - they include ideas about what you can do, as well as contact details for the media and government politicians. Moana Jackson's analysis of the police homicide enquiry report is available online. Aotearoa Educators' articles about Steven Wallace's death are available online at http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz
The fund was established to help with legal costs and expenses incurred by Steven's family, and to campaign for possible changes to the law and to police procedures - any funds not required for these purposes will be placed in a permanent trust fund for the use of persons finding themselves victims of similar injustices. If you wish to make a contribution to the fund, please refer to the updated details on this page. "This is not just a Waitara tragedy, it was a national tragedy and one we must never allow to occur again" (from the Wallace Wh�nau Committee statement, June 2000)
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