Ivan Curry case has positive spinoff
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Ivan Curry case has positive spinoff

Some good has resulted from the tragic case of deaf man Ivan Curry who was found not guilty after nearly two years in jail for murder, says the Deaf Association.

The case and subsequent reviews last year led to police, the Deaf Association and the Foundation for the Deaf developing procedures for police dealings with deaf people.

“At a national level, the police have been extremely supportive,” association chief executive officer Tricia Fitzgerald said.

A televised documentary on the case last year showed the dangers of police using a communicator who was untrained in legal matters and who did not understand the difference between signed English and the deaf’s natural language, New Zealand sign language.

Ms Fitzgerald said part of the problem was a scarcity of qualified New Zealand sign language interpreters. This was being rectified through a polytechnic course in Auckland which would see 10 interpreters qualifying next year.

The association had only three professional interpreters last year. The number rose to four this year with the arrival from England of interpreter Rob Chalk who works at the Wellington office. A fifth interpreter will start work at Dunedin next month.

Several police centres have announced they have begun using teletypewriter phones with keyboards so deaf people can call them. Wellington Central police station installed one in May.

Ms Fitzgerald said the deaf still had a long way to go before they achieved equity with other groups in New Zealand on several issues.

The Deaf Association took a fresh look at its work last year and is now providing more skills development. It recently appointed a leadership tutor to train the deaf in self-advocacy and assertiveness. “We hope to have deaf staff working in each association office supported by hearing staff.”

The association also hopes to open offices in areas where it currently offers no regular coverage. It has seven offices throughout the country.

Ms Fitzgerald was in Wellington this week to meet Wellington staff and to attend a Maori blessing for the local office, in Victoria Street, which has been refurbished.

Local liaison officer Marian Kurney said the office asked Te Atiawa elder Sir Ralph Love to make the blessing. It was part of the association’s desire to demonstrate more cultural awareness of deaf Maoris in the area.

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Ivan Curry
Ivan Curry
Tricia Fitzgerald
Tricia Fitzgerald
Taonga source:
The Evening Post
Reference number:
SignDNA – Deaf National Archive New Zealand, A1993-003
Bibliographic source:
The Evening Post, 21 August 1993
Author:
Lynsey Morgan
Copyright status:
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Note:
This item has been transcribed and/or OCR post-corrected. It also has been compressed and/or edited.

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article – Taonga source: NZ Herald

Court scenes show shocking injustice

When 'The Remand of Ivan Curry' concluded last night with the knowledge that a deaf man wrongly accused for murder and imprisoned for two years without trial was finally released with nothing – no apology nor any compensation – the indignation must have risen high in the throats of many viewers.
1992
article – Taonga source: Sunday Times

Ivan’s story perfectly told

A review of 'The Remand of Ivan Curry', a docudrama about the deaf man held on remand for 2 years accused of murdering his nephew.
1990
article – Taonga source: NZ Herald

Inquiry into Curry murder prosecution

The Police Complaints Authority started an inquiry into a murder charge made in 1988 against Ivan Curry, who is profoundly deaf. The weekend screening of a documentary on TVNZ Channel One's 'The Remand of Ivan Curry', had raised concerns about the way the police handled the case.
1992
article – Taonga source: Western Leader

Curry case highlights Deaf plight

A television documentary on the plight of a deaf man has spurred the Glen Eden-based New Zealand Association of the Deaf into action. It wants to see the man, wrongly imprisoned for two years, receive compensation for his ordeal.
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1992
video – Taonga source: Sue Williams

The Remand of Ivan Curry

A documentary outlining the case of Ivan Curry who, in 1988, was arrested and tried for the murder of his baby nephew. The documentary explores the case and in particular the plight of Ivan Curry who was remanded without bail for 15 months awaiting trial, as well as the difficulty Deaf people face navigating the justice system.
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1990
article – Taonga source: NZ Herald

Ivan Curry case goes to police authority

The Police Minister expects the Police Complaints Authority to inquire into questions arising from the documentary 'The Remand of Ivan Curry'.
1992
article – Taonga source: NZ Herald

Treatment of deaf man is modern horror story

The documentary 'The Remand of Ivan Curry (One, Sunday 9.35) was the story of how a man could spend two years in a New Zealand prison without trial. A deaf man arrested for a murder he did not commit who was kept in jail through lack of police investigation then turned back onto the streets with nothing, not even an apology.
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1992
article – Taonga source: The Evening Post

State needs to protect defendant’s right to a fair trial

Curry, who was deaf after suffering meningitis as an infant, spent two years in jail before being brought to trial on a murder charge a jury took just two hours to throw out.