New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Reliability warnings (s122 evidence act)

Legal area

Court

31 May 2023

DREWET v R [2023] NZCA 192

Citation

[2023] NZCA 192
Court

Court of Appeal

The appeal was dismissed: the Judge's directions on credibility and reliability were adequate and a s122 warning was not required; relationship evidence was properly contextualised and did not create a miscarriage of justice; prosecutor comments about similarities did not produce impermissible propensity reasoning or unfair trial; and the sentence was within range with appropriate discounts, so no appellate intervention was warranted.
18 May 2018

BRUNSELL v R [2018] NZCA 156

Citation

(2018) 28 CRNZ 543
Court

Court of Appeal

No miscarriage: trial judge did not err materially in declining a specific s122 warning because Grainger's reliability was fully ventilated in cross‑examination, the jury observed limitations (including CCTV), and re‑examination, though improperly led without prior permission, was not shown to be prejudicial; directions on defence of another and withdrawal were unnecessary given the defence case and accurate directions that acquittal follows if appellant did not intentionally assist; therefore manslaughter conviction as party was upheld.
12 Dec 2017

ROSS v R [2017] NZCA 587

Citation

[2017] NZCA 587
Court

Court of Appeal

The appeal was dismissed because the Court found no miscarriage of justice: counsel's decisions were informed and tactical, supported by contemporaneous documents and investigator advice, and proposed witnesses would not have materially assisted but posed risks; counsel's closing adequately presented the defence; the judge's directions on reliability, propensity and dates, viewed in context of the trial, were adequate to prevent a real risk of an unsafe verdict; and even if some deficiency in the s122 warning existed, the Crown case (identifications and corroborative evidence) was strong such…

New Zealand Case Law

DREWET v R [2023] NZCA 192

BRUNSELL v R [2018] NZCA 156

ROSS v R [2017] NZCA 587