New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Jury bias

Legal area

Court

20 Apr 2021

MONTAPERTO v R [2021] NZCA 170

Citation

[2021] NZCA 170
Court

Court of Appeal

On the balance of probabilities the jury foreman received credible extrinsic information that the appellant was a prime suspect in the Teresa Cormack murder and communicated that information to other jurors before deliberations; that transmission of materially prejudicial extrinsic information created a real risk of miscarriage of justice by producing apparent bias, rendering the 1988 convictions unsafe and requiring them to be quashed; no retrial ordered given lapse of time and sentence served.
27 Aug 2020

H (CA271/2019) v R [2020] NZCA 368

Citation

[2020] NZCA 368
Court

Court of Appeal

No miscarriage of justice was shown: the juror issue did not raise apparent bias; admission of the defendant's interview and the complainant's unedited EVI were defensible strategic decisions that assisted the defence and did not unfairly prejudice the trial; late NIA vehicle information was tested at trial and did not prejudice the defence; cumulative Sungsuwan challenges failed to show a real risk to verdict safety; sentencing at 13 years fell within band three and denial of a good character discount was justified by the offender's criminal history and lack of remorse.
15 Aug 2019

HUNTER v R [2019] NZCA 363

Citation

[2019] NZCA 363
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court dismissed the appeals because the charges were properly laid and appropriately pursued, the judge's directions (including the answer that non‑consensual touching suffices for assault) were correct and did not produce jury bias or an unreasonable verdict, and the sentence of four months' home detention was not manifestly excessive given pre‑trial custody credit.

New Zealand Case Law

MONTAPERTO v R [2021] NZCA 170

H (CA271/2019) v R [2020] NZCA 368

HUNTER v R [2019] NZCA 363