Thursday 4 September 2008

Winston has the best defence says Hooton .....

Vintage Hooton.....


Regular listeners to Radio New Zealand’s flagship programme Nine to Noon (or readers of the blogosphere) may have heard Peter Williams’ extraordinary attack on me yesterday in response to my comments two days earlier.
It was my grandfather, the legendary Auckland criminal defence lawyer George Skelton, who gave Peter his first serious job in the law. He taught Peter to be a staunch advocate for his clients, no matter how serious the charges they faced. Years later, I made use of this family connection to ask Peter to address the Auckland Young Nationals, in which I was involved as a student. He spoke movingly and, in my view, correctly of the right of even the most heinous alleged criminal to have the very best defence against the prosecutorial powers of the State, and he spoke of the power of love to achieve rehabilitation, forgiveness and renewal.
My grandfather would be proud of how well his understudy has done in the criminal law. No one is a stronger advocate for those up on the most serious offences of murder or rape, who may otherwise have no one else standing in their corner. If I am ever up on a serious criminal charge, I will call Peter. (more…)





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