A Crown expert has questioned the accuracy of a recent psychiatric report that "relied on the word" of the killer himself.
Clinical and Forensic Psychology Professor James Ogloff gave evidence in the Court of Appeal in Wellington, via video link from Australia. He confirmed he had never met with the terrorist in prison.
His findings were based on four separate reports written in 2020 by two psychiatrists who monitored Tarrant from the outset. Both found he had the capacity to plead guilty in March 2020.
He also assessed a contrasting psychiatric report presented to the court for balance. It was written later, by a witness who has name suppression, referred to as Mr B.
That report stated the writer agreed with the assessments in the earlier reports, but went on to find that the killer lacked the capacity to make rational decisions at the time he made a plea in March 2020.
The Court of Appeal has been hearing from the Christchurch mosque terrorist's former lawyers. (Source: 1News)
Professor Ogloff told the court, the conclusions in the report from Mr B are so starkly different, that "all I can think is he accepted Mr Tarrant's retrospective representation of his mental state at the time as a matter of fact".
"You have to be so careful because of the self interest of the prisoner." Earlier he commented, "we don't just rely on the word of the defendant".
He raised concerns about the terrorist's presentation to Mr B, describing it as possible "malingering", and that the prisoner had at times conveyed himself in a "pathological manner". He alluded to some "rather outrageous comments made by Mr Tarrant" that he says were never addressed in the report.
The terrorist is currently attempting to convince the Court of Appeal to let him reverse the guilty pleas he entered after the atrocity, so a trial could take place years after the event.
The killer, who shot down worshippers at random and without mercy, pleaded guilty to 51 charges of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of committing a terrorist act in 2020. He now claims he only did so because he was suffering from “inhumane” prison conditions in solitary confinement.
The 35-year-old Australian gave evidence to that effect in court on Monday as his appeal hearing began, expressing no remorse for his crimes and instead saying his own mental health was “wildly fluctuating” in jail.
The man responsible for the worst act of terrorism in NZ history is seeking leave to appeal his convictions that were entered five years ago. (Source: 1News)
He is currently serving a sentence of life in prison, without parole.
He claimed he felt forced to plead guilty because the lawyers he had at the time refused to run the defence he wanted.
“It was a decision induced by the conditions, rather than a decision I rationally made,” he said during his evidence.
The hearing continues this afternoon with two more Crown witnesses, and is expected to run until Friday.
SHARE ME