New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

S 27 cultural reports

Legal area

Court

8 Sept 2023

R v ORMOND [2023] NZHC 2539

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2539
Court

High Court

The court accepted band three grading under R v Taueki for Ryan and fixed a nine-year starting point reduced by aggregated discounts for s27 cultural factors, psychological state, remorse and substantial EM bail credit to a final sentence of three years and six months imprisonment; for Harland the court fixed a notional sentence reduced for guilty plea, youth and background to 13 months then converted to ten months home detention with standard conditions; a higher MPI was unnecessary beyond the default one-third custodial period for Ryan.
6 Dec 2022

SALT v R [2022] NZCA 611

Citation

[2022] NZCA 611
Court

Court of Appeal

Extension of time was granted; the s 27 cultural report was not admitted as fresh evidence because its material substantially overlapped with information before the sentencing Judge and was not required to demonstrate mitigation; the sentencing Judge materially under-credited mitigation for youth (10%), family circumstances including addiction (10%) and remorse (5%) such that, combined with the 20% plea discount, the end sentence should be reduced to six years' imprisonment from eight years two months.
9 Jul 2021

STUART v R [2021] NZHC 710

Citation

[2021] NZHC 710
Court

High Court

The High Court found on the facts a causal link between the appellant's methamphetamine addiction and personal deprivation and his dishonesty offending such that a 25% discount for personal circumstances would have been appropriate, but after correcting the guilty plea discount (reducing it from 25% to 20%) and applying the proper method (applying the guilty plea discount to the adjusted starting point per Moses), the imposed sentence of 30 months was not manifestly excessive and fell within the available range; the appeal was dismissed.
27 Apr 2021

WEBBER v R [2021] NZCA 133

Citation

[2021] NZCA 133
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court dismissed the appeal and upheld a 15-year MPI because the judge correctly applied s 86E and s 103, reasonably limited any discount for s 27 matters given the gravity and features of the offending (premeditated gang-enforced vigilante killing, 14 stab wounds, victim vulnerability), and comparisons with co-offenders or R v Kahia were inapt as those defendants were not similarly situated (not on a third strike and different levels of culpability).
17 Jun 2020

WHITTAKER v R [2020] NZCA 241

Citation

[2020] NZCA 241
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court held the starting point of seven and a half years for aggravated burglary was appropriate; the prosecution's withdrawal of the aggravated burglary charge against Caleb did not justify reducing co-offenders' sentences; however the s 27 cultural discount for Mitchell Whittaker was applied in a way that produced disproportionate comparative effect and warranted an uplift of mitigation equating to five months reduction of his end sentence, so his sentence was quashed and substituted with six years and nine months; the other appeals were dismissed.

New Zealand Case Law

R v ORMOND [2023] NZHC 2539

SALT v R [2022] NZCA 611

STUART v R [2021] NZHC 710

WEBBER v R [2021] NZCA 133

WHITTAKER v R [2020] NZCA 241