New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Eyewitness reliability

Legal area

Court

12 Apr 2018

MUKOKO v R [2018] NZCA 87

Citation

[2018] NZCA 87
Court

Court of Appeal

Complainant's identification evidence was inadmissible and unreliable given contemporaneous equivocation (111 call, police notes, statement), poor viewing conditions and risk of misidentification of similar neighbours; even if admissible it should have been excluded under s8 because its minimal probative value was substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. Those errors caused a miscarriage of justice, requiring quashing of convictions and ordering a retrial.
6 Dec 2017

STEVEN IHAKA SYLVA V R [2017] NZCA 567

Citation

[2017] NZCA 567
Court

Court of Appeal

Photographic identification was admissible and sufficiently reliable given prior acquaintance, proximity and corroborating detail; recall of the identification witness was lawful and non-prejudicial (trial counsel consented); the judge's answers to the jury were accurate and did not misstate the burden or convert identification into a fact of whereabouts; prosecutorial remarks were peripheral and did not cause miscarriage; a Papadopoulos direction was not required before a majority verdict direction in the circumstances; sentencing fell within the appropriate Mako range and the judge acted wi…