TRIAL BY AMBUSH: THE TRIALS OF DAVID BAIN

Written by Joe Karam, with foreword byJulian Miles QC

 Publication Saturday 11 February 2012  |  NZ RRP $44.99   | HarperCollins 

I haven't had a chance to read the book yet but here is what the publisher has to say:

 ‘Trialby Ambush is a remarkable book. Essentially there are three themes runningthrough it. The first is the exhaustive analysis of the evidence relied on bythe Crown at both trials. Secondly, it is an exploration of how the police andthe judicial system failed David Bain. Thirdly, it is a testament to JoeKaram’s tenacity, intelligence and determination to see justice prevail.’Julian Miles QC

At7.09 a.m. on 20 June 1994, David Bain called emergency services and reportedfinding his entire family of five dead. A year later he was convicted of havingmurdered them in cold blood, with determination and cunning. He was sentencedto life in prison.

However,after 12 years of public controversy, inquiries and appeals, on 10 May 2007 thePrivy Council concluded that a substantial miscarriage of justice had occurredand accordingly quashed the convictions and ordered a retrial. For the firsttime the background to this historic decision is laid bare.

Thiscompelling new book, released NZ-wide today, explores why the miscarriage happened, just how substantialit actually was and why it took 12 years to right this dreadful wrong.

Whenthe evidence heard by both juries is on the table and assimilated in logicalfashion as Joe Karam has done in this detailed narrative, the so-calledcontroversy posed by the judge in his summing up - ‘Who did it? David Bain?Robin Bain?’ - will be put to rest once and for all.

Neverfar from the public eye since kicking the All Blacks to victory at Cardiff in1972 as a 21-year-old, Joe Karam has been a public advocate for David Bain since1996. Karam was named by the New Zealand Herald in 2007 and TV3 in 2009as one of their New Zealanders of the Year, and his assertion that the firstBain trial was a travesty was vindicated by the Judicial Committee of the PrivyCouncil and David’s subsequent acquittal.


And story in NZ Herald this am headed -  Police investigation bungled, one-sided says Bain murder book author

And from The Press last month - Book to put to rest Bain case.