Retired eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne leaves the High Court in Auckland after the not guilty verdict. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel
A criminal defence lawyer says the verdict in the Philip Polkinghorne trial shows the justice system is working.
On Monday, the former Auckland eye surgeon was found not guilty of murdering his wife, Pauline Hanna, in their Remuera home three years ago.
Read more:
- Who was Pauline Hanna?
- The eye surgeon accused of murdering his wife: How it all unfolded
- Polkinghorne trial: Defence urges jury to focus on the facts
Crown prosecutors claimed Polkinghorne murdered his wife and staged the scene as suicide, while his defence argued Hanna took her own life.
Jurors heard from more than 80 witnesses over the course of the nine-week trial, before returning their verdict after almost two days of deliberation.
Criminal defence lawyer Elizabeth Hall said the not guilty verdict showed a working justice system.
"The obligation on the Crown is to call the evidence that they think will convince a jury that their theory of the case is right, and that the jury is sure beyond a reasonable doubt," she said.
"The jury in the case wasn't sure, and so they acquitted..."
Pauline Hanna. Photo: Melanie Earley
She said the Polkinghorne trial came down to the pathology evidence around Hanna's death.
"In this case, the pathology evidence was very extensively tested, there were a number of senior pathologists, and in fact that's what this trial appears to have come down to: the Crown being unable to prove the mechanism of death that they alleged," Hall said.
Police on Monday said Hanna's death would now be subject to a coronial inquest.
Hall said she did not think the coroner's process would reach different factual findings from what had already been presented in the trial.
"They can make recommendations, and there may be some peripheral aspects of the case, other than culpability, that the coroner wants to make recommendations about," she said.
"This case was extensively ventilated in the High Court. It doesn't really seem that there will be much that the coroner would add."
Hall said the Polkinghorne trial presented a good chance for the public to get interested in other areas of the justice system.
"I would hope that people who are interested in this particular case are also interested in how our courts operate in general terms, and get involved in that debate."