New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Guilty plea appeals

Legal area

Court

20 Dec 2021

C v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2021] NZHC 3560

Citation

[2021] NZHC 3560
Court

High Court

Court found exceptional circumstances and sufficient merit to justify extension of time to appeal sentence given the substantial and unforeseen employment and welfare consequences post-2016 and the arguable case for discharge without conviction, but refused to extend time to appeal conviction because prejudice to the respondent and complainant from retrial outweighed the applicant's interest; continued interim name suppression pending outcome of the sentence appeal.
13 Oct 2020

SADLER v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 2681

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2681
Court

High Court

Section 119 of the Land Transport Act 1998 authorised police to remain on the appellant's property and conduct breath testing after pursuit and stop signals, so no tenable defence existed; counsel correctly advised the appellant to plead guilty and did not coerce him; pre-sentence report issues were corrected and the sentence was not manifestly excessive, therefore the appeal against conviction and sentence is dismissed.
3 Apr 2020

MILLS v R [2020] NZCA 88

Citation

[2020] NZCA 88
Court

Court of Appeal

Extension of time to appeal was granted but the application to adduce further evidence was declined and the appeal against conviction was dismissed because the appellant entered a voluntary, informed guilty plea after competent legal advice, the fresh evidence did not cogently undermine the Crown's forensic case (trajectory, absence of close-range deposition, bloodstain patterns and residue analysis) which placed the victim near the front door and the shooter at a distance incompatible with the claimed struggle, and therefore no miscarriage of justice was established.
6 Mar 2020

RIZVI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 411

Citation

[2020] NZHC 411
Court

High Court

On the admitted facts a properly directed fact-finder could reasonably conclude the appellant entered the protected person's dwelling intending to commit a breach of the protection order (including intending to make contact and to enter/remain on premises in breach of s 19(2)(c)/(d)/(e) and to engage in psychological abuse under s 19(1)(d)); that intent satisfied the imprisonable offence element of burglary and the conviction must be upheld.
10 Dec 2019

TUAKALAU v AUCKLAND COUNCIL [2019] NZHC 3252

Citation

[2019] NZHC 3252
Court

High Court

No miscarriage of justice was established: the Judge had regard to the prior warning and previous visit in submissions; the alleged trespass was not before the Judge and, even if it had been, would not have made the circumstances exceptional under s58; therefore the mandatory destruction order stood and the appeal against conviction and sentence fails.
5 Oct 2017

SUʼA v R [2017] NZCA 439

Citation

[2017] NZCA 439
Court

Court of Appeal

Court found counsel had authority to negotiate, the evidence (texts, intercepts, payments) meant there was no realistic prospect of acquittal on the charges to which appellant pleaded guilty, alleged counsel errors did not produce a miscarriage of justice, the omission in the summary of facts did not render the plea uninformed or alter sentencing materially, and therefore the conviction stands though extension of time to appeal was granted.
7 Mar 2016

BROWN v NZ POLICE [2016] NZHC 374

Citation

[2016] NZHC 374
Court

High Court

The Court declined leave to bring the out of time appeal because the appellant entered an informed guilty plea, no miscarriage of justice was shown, and the summary of facts amply established the elements of indecent assault (assault by threat and application of force) so the proposed appeal had no real prospect of success.

New Zealand Case Law

C v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2021] NZHC 3560

SADLER v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 2681

MILLS v R [2020] NZCA 88

RIZVI v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 411

TUAKALAU v AUCKLAND COUNCIL [2019] NZHC 3252

SUʼA v R [2017] NZCA 439

BROWN v NZ POLICE [2016] NZHC 374