This verdict today will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who's been following this trial closely.
The Crown simply did not have a good case, at no point, really, was it actually convincing. But when it came to closing arguments last week, it became really obvious how weak the case against him was.
The best piece of evidence they had, according to them, was that Pauline Hanna had told someone one time that he tried to strangle her about a year before she died. That was the best they did - that's not much, is it?
So, no surprise it took the jury only 10 hours to decide to find him not guilty.
I don't know where this leaves Philip Polkinghorne, because the jury made it clear today with that questions to the judge that most of them don't think Pauline Hanna killed herself.
But some didn’t think there was enough evidence against Philip Polkinghorne.
And after 8 weeks of his intimate details being aired to the country, he must be humiliated. We know how extensive his drug use was, that he was seeing hookers, how much he regularly spent on those hookers and drugs, and his intimate messages to women.
I often wonder how other people who’ve been accused of very high profile murders manage to keep living here in such a small country afterwards. I feel like with him it’s even more pronounced.
Because not only was this case extremely high profile and often the most read story on news websites every day - but then there was everything else.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
5 comments:
The MSM have made a mountain out of this ant hill.
One has to wonder if his outrageously wicked and depraved lifestyle was non existent and he turned out to be just another dude with normal issues whether the MSN and by default the Police would have even looked at the case twice?
Guilty or not, became seemingly irrelevant to the daily gutter gossip journalism that New Zealanders were being fed and the real tragedy is Ms Hanna and her reputation.
The prosecution case was basically non-existent after their own expert witnesses (pathologists) could not decide with any certainty that Ms Hanna's her neck compression was homicide or suicide.
Then two more expert pathologists stated that they would have assessed her neck injuries as suicide.
The prosecution was stuffed at this stage. So , of course , they relied upon that old standard police tactic - character assassination that they use when the case is weak. It worked with Scott Watson and Mark Lundy.
Wouldn't the police normally manufacturer some evidence in this situation, when there case wasn't really strong?
I suppose police were limited in some ways, the jail house cell mate witness testimony was out. Because Mr Polkinghorne was never remanded in custody?
What are the police coming to? Surely they could have come up with something from their toolbox.
Yes - you would think so..
After Arthur Thomas -- cartridge cases planted in garden
Scott Watson -- hairs on blanket that were nor "found" first time.
Mark Lundy --- Material on his shirt, analysed by a weird laboratory in the U.S.
Loads of character assassination for sure.
What was hard to understand was that neither strangulation or suicide was proven but failed to state or investgate any other plausible C.O.D. So how this poor woman died we'll never know? And we're all still talking about it.
Because it was all because an old fullah liked a bit of whoopee!
Very sad for them.
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