Counties Manukau police district commander Superintendent Mike Bush says he accepts an Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report critical of the way police handled some evidence in the Chris and Cru Kahui murder case.
The South Auckland twins died in Auckland's Starship Hospital in June 2006 after being admitted with head injuries.
Their father, Chris Kahui, was acquitted of their murder in 2008.
His defence was that the twins' mother, Macsyna King, was the killer but she had never been charged.
Following the trial, lawyers for Mr Kahui complained to the IPCA regarding two pieces of evidence they said were not documented or disclosed properly.
A decision released by the IPCA yesterday cleared police of deliberately withholding or delaying the release of evidence.
However, the IPCA criticised the officers' documentation and disclosure of evidence.
In regards to a complaint involving one witness, the IPCA said it accepted police were working under considerable pressure at the time, but that the evidence should have been disclosed in a timely way.
"The late disclosure put the defence under unreasonable pressure, and constituted an error of judgment on the part of the officers concerned," the IPCA said.
Mr Bush today said he accepted the IPCA's findings.
"The investigation was difficult and the approach adopted by police throughout the investigation was thorough and comprehensive."
The investigation had been peer-reviewed throughout, he said.
"Full disclosure of all evidence was provided to the Crown and defence, but I do acknowledge there was a timing issue with one statement," he said.
"I will look at the recommendations made by the IPCA and act appropriately upon them."
Mr Bush said the IPCA noted that the disclosure issue did not ultimately prejudice the defence case.
Mr Kahui's lawyer Lorraine Smith yesterday said she was pleased with the IPCA decision.
"We were concerned during the trial about a number of matters and we referred those to the Independent Police (Conduct) Authority and we're pleased to see that our concerns were justified," she said.
Ms Smith would not comment on whether she thought the police failures to disclose evidence properly were deliberate.
