Another
chronology in the unfolding story, focusing mainly on New Zealand
2002
September
David Dougherty,
already exonerated of a rape, is now more at peace since someone else
has been arrested largely it is believed on the basis of incriminating
DNA evidence.
Mr Dougherty, who
is now working, owns his own home, does voluntary work, and plays squash,
said the obsessive-compulsive disorder he had been diagnosed with and
brought on by the stress, has eased.
He was advised of
the arrest by a police officer who visited him.
'The officer who
told him the news � didn't say sorry again', said the report, 'But he
didn't have to.' "Him turning up was worth more than any words that
the police could put on a piece of paper for me. The fact they took
the effort to come down here and not just send me a local cop told me
all I needed to know.
"It was a really
big week for me. I hadn't realized the weight it took off me."
Dougherty
can now face up to his doubters, by Donna Chisholm, Sunday Star Times
29/9/02
October
A report says:
'Former Mangakino
police officer Colin McLean is negotiating a settlement with the police
- seven months after he was acquitted of rape following a trial in the
High Court at Rotorua.'
In April a jury
found Mr McLean not guilty of raping a woman at Tokoroa in Dec 1997,
and of assaulting her in Feb 1998. In a previous trial on the same matters
he was found guilty, but that was overturned because the jury became
aware of a previous rape charge that related to events in 1994, although
he had been acquitted. Although he was acquitted of the 1994 charge,
he had been dismissed from the police, not to be reinstated so far.
Mr McLean has been
acquitted twice now, and the police are settling, but the parties agreed
not to talk about the negotiations, Mr McLean's lawyer, Murray McKechnie,
said.
New Zealand Women's
Weekly magazine had been facing a contempt of court charge over the
case, because it had published material asserting his innocence a month
before Mr McLean was to stand trial - leading to the case being adjourned
to April in 2002. Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias and Justice Morris had
reserved their decision.
Officer
acquitted of rape seeks settlement, The Press, Christchurch,
25/10/02 p A5
December
A jury found Melissa
Marie Antonievic guilty of two out of seven charges of conspiracy to
prosecute brought against her in a private prosecution by Peter John
Hartley. This was over claims that she and her husband were drugged
and sexually attacked by Mr Hartley, of Upper Hutt.
Woman
found guilty of false claims Press 2/12/02 A9; and Lawyer warns jurors
case may revolt them, The Press, Christchurch, 27/11/02
'He was arrested
in January last year [2001] and faced six indecent assault charges.
But his name, the name and suburb of his dental practice, and the name
of the Canterbury town where he practiced during the 1980s, were suppressed
throughout the two-year legal battle. Yesterday a Christchurch District
Court acquitted him'.
Jury
finds dentist not guilty, by Keri Welham, The Press, Christchurch, 7/12/02
p A16
'A woman who murdered
her husband allegedly to protect their toddler son from suspected sexual
abuse has had her bid for early prison release rejected.'
Pauline Brown is
serving a sentence in Christchurch Women's Prison for murdering her
estranged husband William Rainsford in September 1993 in Arrowtown.
She had earlier
had a provocation claim rejected, the Court of Appeal saying "Brown
was possessed of only the slightest evidence suggesting anything improper
on Bill Rainsford's part towards her children".
Parole
bid fails for Arrowtown husband-killer, by Matt Conway, The Press, Christchurch,
10/12/02 p 1.
'Detective Sergeant
Nigel Keall, of Hamilton, said a woman told police last Monday she was
indecently assaulted by one man, raped by two others, and abducted by
a fourth.
'Mr Keall said the
allegations were investigated thoroughly and led police to charging
the woman with making a false statement.'
COSA notes that
the title that the newspaper chose to use in publishing this information
was provocative: "Rape victim now accused".
Rape
victim now accused, Daily News, Hamilton, 17/12/02 p 3.
------------------------------------
2002
November
Excerpts:
Foster, 47, the
first priest accused of sexual misconduct this year to be cleared, remains
astonished by what happened to him: He, along with the late Rev. William
J. Cummings, was accused in an Aug. 14 civil lawsuit of molesting a
former Newton teenager, Paul R. Edwards, during the 1980s.
But within days,
evidence surfaced that strongly rebutted the charges by Edwards, who
has a history of fabricating stories. Edwards dropped the lawsuit after
his lawyer abandoned the case. The judge assigned to the case expressed
''significant concerns'' about the truthfulness of the allegations.
A week later, on Sept. 10, the archdiocese decided the charges were
unsubstantiated and [Cardinal Bernard F.] Law ordered Foster reinstated.
Reinstated
priest: 'Yes, I am angry', by Walter V. Robinson, Boston Globe, 24/11/02
p A1.
2003
January
A Californian woman
who claimed Celine Dion's husband, Rene Angelil, raped her, has been
arrested and charged, along with her husband, with trying to extort
US$13.5m (NZ$25.2m) from Angelil, police said.
Yun Kyeong Kwon
Sung and Ae Hoe Kwon face felony charges of extortion and witness soliciting
a bribe and a misdemeanour for conspiracy to commit extortion.
Sung 47, and Kwon
50, filed a civil lawsuit last March in Las Vegas alleging Angelil raped
Sung in March 2000 at the Imperial Palace hotel casino on the Las Vegas
Strip. The couple also filed a Las Vegas police report in March 2002
- two years after the alleged assault.
Police began investigating
the alleged extortion seven weeks ago, said Captain Tom Lozich, and
during a meeting about the sexual assault case between the couple, their
attorney, and Angelil's attorney, it became "very clear we had an extortion".
Extortion
arrest clears singer's husband of rape, Sunday Star times, Auckland,
19/01/03.