The Privy Council in London yesterday ruled in favour of the New Zealand media, who put forth the argument that the 2002 conviction of Mark Lundy should be overturned, as it would provide national media with a much-needed news event.
Having heard the media’s appeal of Lundy’s case back in July, the Law Lords of the Privy Council unanimously ruled that Lundy, who was convicted for the murder of his wife and children on August 29th, 2000, had faced a significant miscarriage of justice, and that, even if he hadn’t, the national interest of “having journalists run around outside courtrooms, concocting softball questions to cobble together a feel-good narrative about a once-reviled, now-vindicated man” far outweighed the potential consequences of setting him free.
TVNZ Head of News John Gillespie, who represented New Zealand media in London, enthusiastically welcomed the decision this morning.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels,” he said, “to have an authority like the Privy Council finally give volume to our voices, and reiterate what we have been saying all along, which is that Mark Lundy, something something, whatever, he’s probably guilty, but boy, are we looking forward to writing about it.”
In their full written decision, released this morning, the Lords cited fresh DNA evidence, a poorly corroborated police case, and “really good television” as the core reasons for their ruling.
They suggested that Lundy be tried as soon as possible, and that the trial be scheduled to coincide with an expected lull in major news events.
The Privy Council’s decision comes a week after it voted to force a reretrial on the David Bain case, overturning their previous decision to overturn his 1995 conviction.