Alan Hall is no longer a convicted murderer and the spotlight is now turning on the police and lawyers who helped put him behind bars.
Alan Hall's brothers Greg, Geoff and Robert speak outside the Supreme Court. Photo: RNZ
The Crown admits there was a substantial miscarriage of justice, and yesterday the Supreme Court quashed Hall's conviction.
The Solicitor-General has launched an investigation into any Crown lawyers involved.
Hall has spent close to four decades fighting to clear his name after being found guilty of the murder of Arthur Easton, who was killed in a violent home invasion in 1985.
The country's top judge, Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann, gave a brutal assessment of the Crown's case which put him behind bars for nearly two decades.
"It is clear that justice has seriously miscarried in this case.
"As to to why that is so, the Crown accepts that such departures from accepted standards must either be the result of extreme incompetence or of a deliberate and wrongful strategy to secure conviction."
Watch: Alan Hall's brothers Greg, Geoff and Robert react to the Supreme Court decision:
Justice Winkelmann said police unfairly obtained statements from Hall, who has autism spectrum disorder, during lengthy questioning without a lawyer present.
The Crown also failed to disclose all evidence - in particular witness descriptions of the assailant being Māori were removed by police before trial.
Justice Winkelmann said without these there would not have been enough evidence to charge or convict Hall.
"We can confirm the lamentable fact, as the Crown accepts, that significant parts of the criminal justice process have failed Mr Hall with seriously adverse consequences for him."
Justice Winkelmann said the justice system also failed the family of Arthur Easton who died after being stabbed with a bayonet in a frenzied attack.
The end of the hearing was met with applause, and while Alan Hall was too emotional to speak his brother Geoff said the victory was not just the family's.
"Thirty six years of it and here we are, the final moments and we got what we needed for Alan and for the family and for everybody really.
"This is not just a win for us it's a win for the nation.
"We fought against injustice and we won today."
Alan Hall's fight isn't over as he will need to take further court action to prove that more likely than not he is innocent before he can get compensation of potentially $3 million.
Meanwhile, there are calls for answers on how this happened and who is responsible.
Investigator Tim McKinnel, who is on Hall's team, said there were still many unanswered questions and there needed to be an inquiry.
Marie Dyhrberg QC agreed there must be accountability.
"What is going to happen to the public confidence when you hear that there is a particular case where there has been really serious misconduct ... to achieve a conviction?
"Surely the public will want to know that those who embarked upon that course of conduct will have to face responsibility."
Dyhrberg said no one was above the law.
"You cannot ... mislead the court. You can't doctor evidence and then present evidence in a way that you want the jury to accept as truthful.
"And that there are criminal consequences depending on what that conduct is and what level it has reached."
Solicitor-General Una Jagose has launched an investigation to be led by Nicolette Levy QC into the role of all Crown lawyers involved in the case, from the trial until now.
Police declined to speak and the Police Association was not commenting on the case.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority and Justice Minister Kris Faafoi did not respond to RNZ's questions on Wednesday.
Hall's brother calls for answers
"New Zealand police and Crown Law have got to have answers for this" - Geoff Hall
Alan Hall's brother says he and his family deserve answers from the Police and Crown Law about how Alan was wrongfully convicted of a 1985 murder and imprisoned for 19 years.
The Supreme Court yesterday overturned the conviction after even the Crown admitted there had been a miscarriage of justice.
Geoff Hall told First Up that what happened to his brother was wrong in every way, and questions need to be answered to avoid this happening to other innocent people.
"Alan had nothing to do with this, evidence was hidden, evidence was changed to make it look like it was Alan and it was not ... this didn't happen by accident, this didn't by mistake it happened by design.
"New Zealand police and Crown Law have got to have answers for this because they can't do this to a New Zealand citizen and we let it fall through the cracks," Geoff Hall said.
He said the Supreme Court's decision to quash his brother's1986 conviction for murder, had fulfilled a promise he made to his mother when she died.
"I made a promise to my mother when she passed, she was Alan's biggest supporter and I said before she passed I would take the mantle and run with it and I have... I've returned her whānau to her free as he should be."
He said the first thing his brother did when he boarded a plane to Auckland after the court delivered its decision was to ask for a glass of chardonnay; the first wine he had drunk in 40 years.
Lawyer speaks out
"There's a significant cost to his family" - Allan Hall's lawyer
The lawyer for the man wrongly convicted of murdering Arthur Easton is now focused on compensation for his client.
Allan Hall's lawyer Nick Chisnall told Morning Report compensation would require a claim to the Ministry of Justice.
If successful, compensation rates would be paid for years imprisoned and on parole.
"If we succeed, the sum we're talking about will exceed that that's been paid in other cases by a very wide margin," Chisnall said.
However, he would not put a figure on a possible payout.
"I can't put a figure on it and I shouldn't because there are as well as the fixed sums involved other considerations, for example Allan was working at the time he was arrested and of course when he was on parole and recalled as well, so he's lost income because of that.
"Also, there's a significant cost to his family which is a thing we need to consider."
He said Allan Hall's mother had sold the family home to pay for investigators, to get justice for her son.