16 Jun 2016
ROPER v R [2016] NZCA 263
- Citation
- [2016] NZCA 263
- Court
- Court of Appeal
Prosecutor's comments denying motive to lie did not relieve the Crown of its burden because they were directed against the defence theory of collusion and were accompanied by clear judicial directions that the onus remained on the Crown; although judge ought to have expressly warned against illegitimate propensity reasoning, the summing‑up as a whole sufficiently directed the jury to decide each count separately and avoided miscarriage of justice; sentencing classification as a band four (most serious) case was correct and a 14 year starting point (reduced to 13 for age) was within available…