The people who decide when prisoners get out - An exclusive insight into NZ Parole Board hearings

By EMILY WATT - The Dominion Post

The prisoner is eager. He rocks forward as he speaks, fixing his large eyes on his questioners and nodding his bald head.

He speaks quickly: "I understand how victims feel about crimes that happen to them. I want to remain alcohol-free, drug-free and crime-free, and just get on with my life. I can't let people down."

He has served 11 years for murdering his wife and is on the brink of being freed. He has been living in self-care units, has a girlfriend he met on home leave, and is working 12-hour days off-site. His boss, who is at his hearing, describes him as "exemplary".

LIFTING THE VEIL: Judge David Carruthers is keen that the public should better understand how the Parole Board works.

Dressed in clean jeans, boat shoes, and wearing large, ill-fitting glasses, the prisoner looks ready to step back into the world. But there is a glitch - and he knows it.

At one point, he pauses and seems to deflate. He is desperate to get out, and the people before him guard the exit.

Last month, as he returned from work, he was asked to do a drug test. He insisted on having a shower first - and was charged with refusing a drug test. A conviction could affect his drug-free status.

The incident raises questions about the man's aggression and his ability to cope with authority. The board postpones its decision, asking him to return in November. It is a shattering blow.

The Dominion Post was granted exclusive access to attend an extended Parole Board hearing at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo this week - the first time media have been allowed to attend a hearing in New Zealand.

It was a bold move for the board, which regularly finds itself bombarded with criticism.

In January 2007, paroled murderer Graeme Burton went on a rampage in the hills of Wainuiomata, killing Karl Kuchenbecker and wounding four others.

The entire justice system made changes. Parole Board chairman Judge David Carruthers said at the time he felt personally responsible for Mr Kuchenbecker's death.

Judge Carruthers accepts criticism is part of the job, but he is anxious that the public better understand the board's work.

International studies show that freeing prisoners early and supervising their return to the community reduces the likelihood of them reoffending.

The Parole Board's legal duty is to balance risk and freedom: anyone it sees who does not represent an undue risk to society must be freed.

Critics such as Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar believe parole is merely a means of lowering the prison population. Violent or repeat offenders should not be paroled, he says.

He is sceptical of the board's ability to measure risk and says criminals are being coached on how to win their freedom.

But Judge Carruthers says the board will add members and swaps them around to avoid being tricked by manipulative inmates. For more serious criminals, the board, which usually consists of three people, will have a minimum of seven.

TODAY at Paremoremo there are nine - three former judges, two forensic psychiatrists, the former manager of a paedophile treatment programme, a Maori elder, a former prison manager and a former assistant police commissioner and barrister.

Three unidentified members of the board have lost a family member to murder. "I think people think that all of us have no idea of how life is lived in New Zealand," Judge Carruthers says.

The mood at the hearing is friendly but formal. The chairman introduces each board member and they take turns addressing the offender and their supporters: "How would you tell your son you murdered his mother?" "Is that a lie?" "Without treatment your future doesn't look flash." "We're not going to release you today."

Many of the prisoners will have appeared before, and most will appear again. Of the 9000 hearings held last year, 70 per cent of the parole applications were declined.

The board receives the full gamut of attitudes from prisoners. For the uninitiated, it takes a major twist of the imagination to see in the meek, polite man talking of his eagerness to better himself the same person who went on a brutal 24-hour rape spree.

With a major focus on prisoners' actions in prison and their future, Judge Carruthers says hearing from victims also helps to keep a focus on why the prisoners are there. A frail, unshaven man shuffles in, his sweater tucked into his tracksuit pants. His mouth hangs open as he is spoken to and he seems simple and damaged. He has sexually abused children since he was a teenager and now, in his late 40s, he is still considered a high risk of reoffending.

His sister says she knows he is sorry for what he has done and asks how can he prove that he is safe?

It is a good question.

These people all say the right words, and most believe their own best intentions. But manipulating and lying have been their default position most of their lives. Furthermore, 15 per cent of prisoners have mental illness and many more have head injuries and limited cognitive function.

The board is aided in its deliberations by bulging folders of reports from the prison, psychiatrists, prisoners themselves, previous parole decisions, victims' submissions and a raft of risk assessment calculators.

Ricky Houghton, of Northland's He Korowai Trust which helps re-integrate newly freed prisoners into society, says anyone who thinks the board simply rubber stamps releases is wrong. "The Parole Board is definitely not a soft touch. It is, I think, very, very thorough."

It is the conscience of the community, he says.

He has attended today's hearings to support a man who has served 11 years for murder after shooting someone during a gang standoff. The man was released.

Mr Houghton said it was a long journey. "[He] has worked hard for his parole."

Another man, who slit the throat of his estranged wife, was freed in 2000 but recalled five years later after he breached a protection order against his second wife. He has completed courses, and his wife tells the board he has changed.

After a long discussion, the board decides to release him.

Judge Carruthers sternly warns him of the consequences of breaking his strict parole conditions. "Otherwise you'll be back here and you can rot here. No discussion, no excuses, no explanations."

Outside, the two killers talk. One has been granted his freedom and waits in a yard to be processed, hanging on to the wire fence above his head in a pose of a man used to waiting.

The other, his expectations dashed, smokes desolately before climbing into the white van and returning down country.

WHAT IS PAROLE?

* Paroled offenders are freed before the end of their sentences to allow them to reintegrate into the community while subject to restrictions and supervision.

There are two rules for parole:

* Offenders sentenced since 2002: Those jailed for under 2 years are automatically freed after serving half their sentence. Everyone else is eligible to apply for parole after one-third of their sentence (lifers after 10 years) or at a parole eligibility date the court sets.

* Offenders sentenced before 2002: Offenders are eligible for parole after one-third of their sentences and automatically freed after two-thirds. In the case of serious offenders, Corrections can apply to keep them in jail till the end of their sentences.

* Once eligible for parole, offenders must be seen every year. The Parole Board sets release conditions, including conditions for those who have been refused parole but are at the end of their sentences.

LAST YEAR

* The board held 9200 hearings for 5000 offenders and received 570 submissions from victims.

* 2052 offenders were approved for release, including 446 who had served their full sentence.

THE DECISION MAKERS

The full Parole Board:

Judge David Carruthers, chairman – former chief District Court judge and principal Youth Court judge.

Judge Barry Lovegrove – former District Court judge.

Justice Marion Frater – former judge in the High Court, District Court and Family Court.

Neville Trendle – former assistant police commissioner and barrister.

Fleur Grenfell – former manager of Arohata Prison.

Lavinia Nathan – former manager of Te Piriti paedophile treatment unit.

June Jackson – chief executive of Nga Whare Waatea Marae and its prisoner reintegration programme.

Philip Brinded – forensic psychiatrist.

Jeremy Skipworth – forensic psychiatrist.