Court overturns convictions of Gail Maney and others in Deane Fuller-Sandys case

Gail Maney told NZME that today’s decision was a relief.

“I’m still processing it and trying to deal with it.”

Having waited 27 years for this decision, she admitted that she felt anxious before it was made.

She said she was confused by the court’s decision to allow Stone’s case to be retried.

“Actually, nothing like this happened, we are all innocent people and it doesn’t make any sense to me. He doesn’t deserve to be there (in prison) any more than I do,” she said.

Maney said she now plans to take some time and put things into perspective.

The Court of Appeal’s decision was issued after an August hearing during which all four pleaded for acquittal. Alternatively, lawyers for Maney and Stone sought a stay of prosecution to prevent them from being prosecuted

At trial, the Crown admitted that there had been a miscarriage of justice. The Court also agreed that it was not in the interests of justice to order a retrial of the Colin and Henriksen case and therefore an acquittal would be appropriate. However, he demanded a retrial of the Gail and Stone case.

The Crown’s case

Deane Fuller Sandys was 21 years old when he disappeared in August 1989. His body was never found.

The Crown alleged that Gail Maney ordered Stone to kill Fuller-Sandys because he had broken into her flat on Larnoch Road, West Auckland, stealing drugs, money and leather goods.

Police say Fuller-Sandys called the apartment on his way fishing on Aug. 21, 1989, and was shot in the garage by Stone before the gun was turned over to numerous witnesses who were present and who were encouraged to shoot Fuller-Sandys.

They then allegedly put the body in the boot of Colin Maney’s car and drove him to Woodhill Forest, where the Crown says he was buried, before parking his car at a fishing spot in Whatipu, where he was later found.

Fearing that one of those present – young prostitute Leah Stephens – would start talking, Stone allegedly raped and killed her six days later.

Stephens’ body was found three years later by a dog walker buried near Muriwai Golf Club.

Trials from 1999 and 2000

The trial began on March 1, 1999 in the High Court in Auckland. The Crown’s case relied on the testimony of four witnesses – two men and two women – who were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying against Maney and Stone. Three of them have permanent name hiding.

They all denied involvement in the murder and claimed that Fuller-Sandys drowned while fishing in Whatipu. Stone also denied any involvement in Stephens’ rape and murder.

At the hearing, Detective Mark Franklin told the court that no witnesses were presented with statements from other witnesses.

However, the decision said the Crown now admits that Detective Franklin’s representations were not correct and that the failure to disclose his communications with defense counsel involved in the case contributed to the miscarriages of justice that occurred in the 1999 and 2000 trials.

In March 1999, Stone and Maney were convicted of the murder of Fuller-Sandy’s on August 21, 1989. Colin Maney and Henriksen were convicted as accessories after the fact. Stone was also convicted of raping and murdering Stephens.

Following the conviction, Gail Maney and Henriksen successfully appealed and the case was retried in May 2000. The Crown again relied on four key eyewitnesses, although this time they were examined in detail. Maney and Henriksen also gave testimony in which they denied any involvement in Fuller-Sandys’ murder.

Decision of the Court of Appeal

In its decision, the Court said the Crown’s case had changed significantly since the 1999 and 2000 trials, when the Court relied on the testimony of four “witnesses” who implicated all four in the Fuller-Sandy murder.

Two of these witnesses have already withdrawn their testimony. Because their evidence cannot be relied upon, “there is currently no evidence in the decision to implicate Ms. Maney in the murder of Mr. Fuller-Sandy.

The Court of Appeal found there was no need to hear Ms Maney’s case after the Crown accepted that as things stood there was no longer admissible evidence to link Ms Maney to the Fuller-Sandys murder.

Despite the Crown’s concession, he argued that a retrial was necessary and the decision should be left to Crown counsel in Auckland.

However, in its decision, the Court of Appeal disagreed that due to the lack of evidence against her, the Crown should not now be able to “fill in the gaps” in the evidence.

It also said it was inappropriate to leave the cases unresolved in the case of Ms Maney, who had already faced two trials and served her sentence. The length and complexity of the trial and the time that had passed since Fuller-Sandys’ disappearance also weighed in favor of ordering a new trial.

“The only factor in favor of a retrial is the seriousness of the crime, but in our judgment this relativeness is far outweighed by the lack of evidence against Ms. Maney and the factors before us,” it said.

In relation to Colin Maney and Henriksen, the Crown argued that although there was some evidence pointing to the guilt of Colin Maney, and to some extent Mr Henriksen, the Crown was right to find that acquittals should be entered in their case.

The Court of Appeal agreed…

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter based in Wellington. She worked as a journalist for 20 years, including: in the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently, she worked as a media advisor at the Ministry of Justice.