New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Counsel advice

Legal area

Court

17 Jul 2023

SINGH v POLICE [2023] NZHC 1838

Citation

[2023] NZHC 1838
Court

High Court

The appeal is dismissed: counsel's advice was not shown to be erroneous or causative of an uninformed plea; appellant's English competence and his sworn affidavit demonstrate he understood and accepted the facts and consequences; failure to advise about a sentence indication alone did not create a miscarriage of justice in the circumstances; appellant's case did not meet the high threshold required to overturn a guilty plea.
30 Jul 2021

DASS v R [2021] NZCA 356

Citation

[2021] NZCA 356
Court

Court of Appeal

Counsel provided competent, comprehensive advice that defences existed but were unlikely to succeed in light of the evidence (including the recording and complainant's credible testimony); the appellant entered informed guilty pleas to obtain known benefits and has not shown counsel's advice was deficient or that a miscarriage of justice would result, therefore the convictions stand and the appeal is dismissed.
31 May 2021

GRANT v R [2021] NZHC 1244

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1244
Court

High Court

Preliminary conclusion that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred because defence counsel did not advise the appellant about the option of seeking a discharge without conviction following guilty pleas; absence of that advice could have materially affected the appellant's decision to plead guilty and thus falls within recognised grounds for vacating convictions after a plea (Richmond category concerning counsel error). The matter requires further submissions from the Crown before final determination.
23 Sept 2020

WALKER-OAARIKI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZCA 447

Citation

[2020] NZCA 447
Court

Court of Appeal

Leave for a second appeal was declined because the alleged sentencing estimate, though optimistic, was given as an estimate and caveated; independent eyewitness evidence made acquittal unlikely so there was no real prospect of acquittal; and the optimistic advice did not go to the heart of the guilty pleas, so no real risk of miscarriage of justice under s 237 was shown.
22 May 2020

WALKER-OAARIKI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 1087

Citation

[2020] NZHC 1087
Court

High Court

The appeal against conviction is dismissed because omission to advise on sentencing indications did not amount to counsel error that caused a miscarriage of justice given the weak prospect of acquittal on the evidence and credible independent witness accounts; the appeal against sentence is dismissed because although the original starting point was adjusted downward, the ultimate sentence of 26 months for strangulation (with a concurrent three months for assault) was not manifestly excessive after appropriate assessment of starting point and allowable discounts.
8 May 2019

FOWLDS-KOTUHI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2019] NZHC 985

Citation

[2019] NZHC 985
Court

High Court

Failure to raise the possibility of a s94 application at sentencing constituted a material error because, on the facts before the Court, there was a proper basis to consider substitution of the 13-month disqualification with a community-based sentence; accordingly the High Court quashed the 13-month disqualification and, pursuant to s94, substituted it with 30 hours' community work (to be served in addition to the existing 100 hours).
10 Nov 2017

REID-MANUEL v THE QUEEN [2017] NZHC 2768

Citation

[2017] NZHC 2768
Court

High Court

Court found on balance that counsel acted competently and on the appellant's oral instructions, the CCTV and witness evidence established intent to cause grievous bodily harm and satisfied s188(1), no tenable defence of lack of intent was available, failure to pursue a disputed facts hearing did not cause prejudice, and the sentence imposed (3 years 9 months) was within the permissible Band 2 range after substantial discounts; appeal dismissed.

New Zealand Case Law

SINGH v POLICE [2023] NZHC 1838

DASS v R [2021] NZCA 356

GRANT v R [2021] NZHC 1244

WALKER-OAARIKI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZCA 447

WALKER-OAARIKI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 1087

FOWLDS-KOTUHI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2019] NZHC 985

REID-MANUEL v THE QUEEN [2017] NZHC 2768