'Unfair appeal' process hooked lawyer

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Defence lawyer Michael Reed's involvement in the David Bain case came about almost by accident.

The Wellington-based QC whose 37-year legal career has garnered him extensive experience in criminal and defamation law was approached by Bain's key supporter, Joe Karam, in 2004 about representing him in a defamation action.

Property developer Sir Bob Jones one of Reed's major clients suggested Reed also look at the Court of Appeal decision in the Bain case.

"When I first read it I was appalled by it, and that sort of got me hooked, never thinking I would ever get involved in a trial later," Reed said.

"I became involved early on because I genuinely thought there had been an injustice.

"I thought David Bain had been treated very unfairly by the Court of Appeal, and the more I read it, the more determined I was to go to the Privy Council."

Reed eventually got to the Privy Council, which, in 2007, found a "substantial miscarriage of justice" had occurred.

In June that year, Solicitor-General David Collins ordered a retrial. "The Solicitor-General made what I think was a foolish decision to run a new trial, and look what the costs have been: emotionally, money, everything."

The Bain case has consumed Reed and the rest of the legal team. The hourly rate for legal aid covers a fraction of what an experienced QC like Reed normally charges. It barely covered the lawyer's overheads.

"It has been a huge financial burden, actually, for the whole legal team," Reed said.

"It really has destroyed our practices during this period because we haven't been able to give service to those people who we would have liked to have, and we have literally been working from early in the morning until midnight most nights.

"It's been full-on for a number of years really, but during the trial and the month before it's been horrendous."

Reed said he never doubted Bain would be acquitted.

"In a criminal case, you get disclosure of their case beforehand," he said. "We knew it from the Privy Council, we knew it from the Court of Appeal, we knew that we had every single point covered off and that our scientific evidence, our pathology evidence, was much better ... There were so many facts that just don't make sense for the Crown, that we never thought they had a good case."

There was also the steely presence of Joe Karam, who "never believed for one second that David would ever be convicted, and he convinced us of that as well".

"His dedication to it was a big incentive for us to win it, not just for David but for him. He is an amazing guy and deserves a medal for what he has done."

Despite such confidence, Reed felt exhaustion and relief rather than joy as the five "not guilty" verdicts acquitted David Bain of the murders of his parents, Robin and Margaret, and siblings Arawa, Laniet and Stephen.

"It was immense relief rather than elation. The elation comes later. The relief of knowing he's not going back to prison, he's not going to serve a life sentence, and all that work has been worthwhile, that was the first reaction I think."

Reed, who was born in England, always wanted a legal career, but he wanted to see the world first. He was a navigating officer for the P&O line for five years and was also in the Royal Naval Reserve. "I came to New Zealand chasing a girlfriend, stayed here, and I've loved it."

Reed, who studied at Victoria University in Wellington, has a Master of Laws degree.

His wife died of cancer, and for many years Reed has lived with long-term partner Nicola Mathers a District Court judge.

Reed became a QC in 1995, and has acted in many high-profile cases. While the Bain case trumps them all in terms of public profile, Reed is now looking forward to a more relaxing schedule. "I'm not a young chicken; I'm not looking for a trial like this again."

- © Fairfax NZ News