New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (fasd) and culpability

Legal area

Court

9 Dec 2022

SHEERS v R [2022] NZCA 618

Citation

[2022] NZCA 618
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court held that the 14-year maximum sentence imposed under s86D(2) was disproportionately severe and breached s9 NZBORA given the large absolute disparity with the sentence that would otherwise have been imposed and the appellant's FASD substantially reducing culpability; the 14-year sentence was quashed and a sentence of three years' imprisonment substituted.
7 Jul 2020

R v SHEERS [2020] NZHC 1596

Citation

[2020] NZHC 1596
Court

High Court

Although the three-strikes regime mandated the maximum term (14 years), the court found that imposing that term without parole would be manifestly unjust because the offender suffers severe FASD and youth which substantially reduced moral culpability and his ability to understand prior warnings; accordingly the court imposed 14 years' imprisonment but retained parole eligibility after one-third of the sentence.