There were two days to Christmas and Lewis felt like everything was spinning
out of control. He wondered what he would say to the judge this time. His
client, Rikihana, was already on multiple shoplifting charges. What’s a few
more? Lewis thought. These supermarkets were still making a killing.
It’s late 2020. Rikihana Wallace, a prolific shoplifter of no fixed abode, is
back in prison with little chance of bail. Nathan Morley, unemployed, is
facing burglary charges and hoping his other, as yet undetected, offences
don’t catch up with him. Lewis Skerrett, their overstretched legal aid lawyer,
is trying to do right by them both.
The culmination of over two years of field research and hundreds of
hours of interviews, The Valley follows these three Hutt Valley men through
courtrooms, prison, hospital, rehab, boarding houses and welfare offices.
Told largely in verbatim dialogue, this up-close and personal account brings
the realities of the New Zealand criminal justice system to life through the
voices of those who experience it first-hand.
Asher Emanuel is a writer and lawyer based in Wellington. He has worked
in various legal and investigative roles, and his writing on justice and
policy issues has been published in mainstream and specialist publications.
TheValley is his first book. Asher now works as a legal aid lawyer focusing on
public law and human rights cases. He grew up in Auckland before moving
to Wellington, where he studied law and English literature.