New Zealand’s Supreme Court Friday overturned Peter Ellis’ 1993 child sexual abuse conviction due to evidentiary errors in his original trial. The court found that unbalanced expert witness testimony, parental suggestion and unreliable memory evidence led to Ellis’ wrongful conviction. The court stated that the complex case did not receive appropriate “special care and attention,” leading to a “miscarriage of justice.”

Expert witness Dr. Karen Zela testified the child complainants’ behavior was consistent with behaviors of sexually abused children. The Supreme Court found that Dr. Zela’s evidence lacked balance because she did not disclose to the jury that there could have been other causes for these behaviors. Additionally, suggestive parental questioning contaminated evidence from child complainants. Although the risk of contamination was addressed in pre-trial applications, the court found that the jury was not fairly informed of the risk. The court also acknowledged that the case suffered issues with memory evidence. However, the court had sufficient reason to determine that a miscarriage of justice occurred and, consequently, did not address these failings to their fullest extent.

Ellis was convicted in 1993 of 16 counts of sexual abuse against children. The trial and investigation attracted massive publicity and controversy at the time. Ellis unsuccessfully appealed twice before the Supreme Court granted his appeal in 2019. Ellis died in 2019; his case is the first time a New Zealand court has overturned a conviction posthumously.