28 Apr 2023
HIKAKA-BEATTIE v R [2023] NZHC 985
- Citation
- [2023] NZHC 985
- Court
- High Court
The High Court held the trial Judge did not err: the combined direct identification by two experienced constables (distinctive facial tattoos, contemporaneous observation), corroborative circumstantial evidence (wallet, fingerprint in vehicle, later recognition by another constable, backpack coincidence) and expert lay recognition of the object by an experienced firearms officer justified the conclusions beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant was the offender and that the object was a firearm within the Arms Act definition; no real risk of miscarriage of justice under s232 was established.