Relentlessly Shifting Blame

A National Sport

In 2000, Stephen Wallace was shot and killed by a policeman in the small New Zealand town of Waitara.  A summary of events is as follows:

It’s unclear what sparked Steven Wallace’s rampage through Waitara that night. After cooking his tea and watched a Super 12 game on T.V, Steven had headed out to a New Plymouth bar. Once returning home it is unclear what triggered the violent reaction that would end his life only hours later. Neighbours to the Wallaces were said to have heard yelling and swearing as Wallace beat the family shed with a golf club around 3am that morning. His mother stood by calling to him to calm down and come inside. Wallace threw the golf clubs in the boot of his car and sped away with blood-alcohol level twice that of the legal driving limit. As he left his mother was worried enough to dial 111 but hung up before the call was answered.

Wallace rampaged like a man possessed. Leaving golf clubs at various scenes he smashed and beat windows and cars. 3 cars were damaged. A taxi with passengers, a private car with 6 youths in it, the third car was a police patrol car. It has been said that night Wallace was intent on killing either himself or someone else and that the Senior Constable was an unwitting pawn in his game.

Collecting his pistol from the police station, Senior Constable Keith Abbott arrived at the scene of destruction. Beaten cars and 140 smashed windows a testimony of the Suspects State of mind. Steven Wallace began to aggressively advance on Abbott armed with a golf club and a baseball bat. Negotiation with the man proved fruitless. Wallace was warned that the policeman was armed and a warning shot was fired. With still no sign of the danger of the attack lessening Abbott withdrew 50m but was circled by Wallace and was cut off. When he reached 20m away Wallace threw the golf club at the Constables head causing him to duck and continued advancing with the softball bat. Abbott shot four shots before the man fell at 5-6m from the constable. [crime.co.nz]

Then followed a series of reviews, cases and decisions.  All had a recurring theme.  They exonerated the police officer and condemned the deceased.

A police investigation was lunched and Abbott’s actions were presented to an independent review. Although the review found that Constable had acted lawfully, Abbott moved his family soon after the incident. The wife of Keith Abbott was harassed and abused by members of Wallace's family. After one occasion in August 2001 when Mrs Abbott was followed home, there was a ruling that the Wallace's were prohibited to associate with the Abbott family for a 12 month period.

The Wallace Family brought a private prosecution against the Constable in September 2001. By February 2002, justices of the peace also found Abbott acted in self-defence and the case was dismissed. However in an appeal in June 02 a Chief Justice overturned the decision and the case went to the High Court. It wasn’t until 04 December 2002, that Abbott ordeal was finally over with an acquittal in the Wellington High Court after a jury deliberated for less than three hours. 

It is now fifteen years after the fateful night in Waitara.  In the immediate aftermath of such events, one can (to an extent) excuse extreme attitudes, statements, and actions by a grieving family.  Grief and grieving means that one should be "cut some slack" as the saying goes.  But the Wallace family have been relentless in their court actions.  It goes way beyond grief.  Their actions now need to be classified as utu, or vengeance.

Wallace, 23, was shot in the town's main street after breaking shop windows and attacking a police car with officers in it.  His family say he was deprived of the right to life and investigations so far have been inadequate, lawyer Graeme Minchin said at the High Court in Wellington on Thursday.  . . .  The family said police had options other than shooting Wallace.  "For the family this really bites, that the police had options."  Police were not cornered and the family could not live with the fact that the truth had not come out, he said.  [Stuff]

What motivates people to cling on to anger and rage and grievances that long?  There are probably plenty of motivations, but one that is likely to be most influential is the attempt to assuage guilt.  Clearly the family are of the view that the death of Stephen Wallace was the fault of the authorities, and had little or nothing to do with the actions of Wallace himself.  They are also likely to be of the view that Wallace's persona, actions, and rage had nothing to do with how he was raised and nurtured.

If the Wallace family had engaged in true, honest introspection they would have likely seen the log that is in their own eye and would have long ago given up grinding away at the splinter in the eyes of the Police.  Ever since the Garden of Eden men have attempted to deflect true guilt and blame onto others.  ("The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit and I ate." [Genesis 3:12])  In their actions and reactions we see the reality of universal human sin.

Sadly, the overriding zeitgeist in New Zealand is that most if not all evils are someone or something else's fault.  We have become a nation of reflexive, automatic blameshifters--except, ironically enough, on the sport's field.  In just about every other field of human action and endeavour, however, we remain cocooned in puerility.  The fault always lies elsewhere.

Whilst we may find the relentless actions of the Wallace family inexcusable, if not repugnant, we are bound to acknowledge that they mirror back to us one of the most deeply held beliefs of New Zealand society.  Someone or something else is always to blame.