New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Role assessment under zhang

Legal area

Court

13 Aug 2021

R v TAUI [2021] NZHC 2123

Citation

[2021] NZHC 2123
Court

High Court

Quantity of 1.524 kg places offending in Zhang band four; defendant played a high-end significant (not leading) role; adopt 12 years starting point then uplift 6 months for firearms to 12.5 years and uplift one year for prior convictions; apply a 15% (1 year 11 months) guilty plea discount and a 20% (2 years 6 months) personal mitigation discount, producing a global sentence of nine years one month on the methamphetamine charges; MPI not imposed because rehabilitation prospects and guilty plea made parole eligibility after one third appropriate.
6 Oct 2020

R v TRAN [2020] NZHC 2633

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2633
Court

High Court

Quantity (109.6 kg) places offending in Zhang band 5; defendant's role assessed as lesser (higher end) leading to a 21-year starting point; apply 5% reduction for foreign national hardship and 25% for an early guilty plea (total 30% reduction) yielding 14 years 7 months' imprisonment; impose an MPI of 7 years because the scale of commercial dealing requires deterrence, denunciation and accountability.
23 Jul 2020

R v PAULO [2020] NZHC 1797

Citation

[2020] NZHC 1797
Court

High Court

Offender had a limited, functionary role and lacked knowledge of the >2kg quantity so quantity-based banding must be moderated; starting point set at three years imprisonment (bottom of Zhang band 2) then reduced by discrete discounts (addiction 15%, rehabilitation 5%, good character 5%, guilty plea 25%) totalling 50% to an 18-month custodial equivalent; the presumption of imprisonment was displaced given realistic rehabilitation prospects and suitability of residence, resulting in an imposed sentence of nine months' home detention with electronic monitoring and specified rehabilitative and a…

New Zealand Case Law

R v TAUI [2021] NZHC 2123

R v TRAN [2020] NZHC 2633

R v PAULO [2020] NZHC 1797