I’m very, very glad the Clayton Weatherston case is over. There’s been a lot of commentary since Wednesday on the sheer awfulness of this particular trial – notably the injustice of the defendant maligning the reputation of his dead victim in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get his charge reduced from murder to manslaughter. This must have been unbearable for her family and friends – but the voyeuristic court coverage deserves condemnation as well.
This trial had a beautiful dead girl, and an intelligent, articulate villain. The protagonists were white and middle-class. The defendant tried to prove that his victim was promiscuous, cruel, callous, brash, and sexually forward, and somehow this behaviour – not at all unique among human beings, especially 22-year olds – justified her brutal murder and mutilation. It’s an unpleasant thing to mention yet again, but Weatherston did not just kill his ex-girlfriend. He disfigured her, targeting her face and genitals, bending and snapping the knife he used against her. His attempts to justify this incomprehensibly brutal act appeared on TV every night for five weeks without comment. It was a destructive and unsubtle message, a cautionary tale for young girls worthy of an unbowdlerized fairy tale from the Middle Ages.
There’s also been a backlash about Weatherston’s demeanour, his arrogance and insensitivity on the stand. Well, I didn’t like him either, but admittedly if you put me on the stand in any capacity I’m sure I’d strike people as an arrogant creep. New Zealanders do not like murderers, but they also hate smart-arses, intellectuals and articulacy.
I don’t agree with banning provocation as a partial defence, unless it’s describing situations that should already be covered by self defence. Could it be modified to eliminate abuse by bigots and misogynists?
Weatherston’s defence team were doing their job, no matter how appalling some of their statements were, but I’d be surprised if they sleep well at night. Weatherston himself is going to have an extremely unpleasant time in prison. I hope, after the sentencing in September, we never hear from him again.
