22 Sept 2021
NIELSEN v R [2021] NZCA 477
- Citation
- [2021] NZCA 477
- Court
- Court of Appeal
The Court held the conviction appeal failed because the jury could properly accept direct eyewitness evidence together with the post-offence possession of the .22 and expert linkage of a spent casing; the trial judge's directions were not erroneous or outcome-determinative; on sentence the judge erred by underweighting mitigation from the s27 report and prospects of rehabilitation so the sentence on the discharging-firearm offence was reduced from 3 years 9 months to 3 years 4 months (served without parole) and the separate possession sentence ordered to be concurrent rather than cumulative.
- Discharging firearm with intent to injure
- Unlawful possession of a firearm
- Reliability of witness evidence
- Appeal against conviction
- Manifestly excessive sentence
- Sentencing discounts for personal/cultural factors