New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Strangulation

Legal area

Court

13 Nov 2023

TEKI v R [2023] NZHC 3199

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3199
Court

High Court

Further evidence was admitted in the interests of justice but there was no identifiable error in the District Court Judge's refusal to grant leave to apply for home detention; given the offender's repeated breaches of protection orders and community sentences, and the need for deterrence, denunciation, community protection and accountability, a custodial sentence of 22 months was the appropriate and least restrictive outcome.
20 Oct 2023

R v UFI [2023] NZHC 2953

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2953
Court

High Court

The Court set a starting point of four years' imprisonment for the strangulation (lead) offence, uplifted that by six months to reflect the associated assault with a weapon, applied a five per cent uplift for prior relevant convictions, deducted 25 per cent for an early guilty plea and a further 15 per cent for mental health and related mitigation, resulting in an end sentence of two years eight months' imprisonment for strangulation with a concurrent 18 months for the assault with a weapon; a firearms prohibition order was imposed by consent.
5 Oct 2023

HANNA v R [2023] NZCA 485

Citation

[2023] NZCA 485
Court

Court of Appeal

Although the judge misstated the defence by saying the complainant was "up for anything," his subsequent, explicit correction to the jury sufficiently cured the error; his question to the detective about height was a legitimate clarification of evidence and did not demonstrate bias; taken cumulatively the matters did not render the trial unfair or cause a miscarriage of justice, and the convictions are therefore upheld.
28 Aug 2023

ROBERTS v R [2023] NZHC 2360

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2360
Court

High Court

The High Court upheld the District Court's sentence as not manifestly excessive: a six year starting point for the rape (oral penetration) falling in band one was appropriate given the penetration, level of violence, victim vulnerability, invasion of the home and presence of a child witness; a ten month uplift for strangulation (forming part of a seven year combined starting point) and a 12% uplift for prior violent offending were within range; a five per cent discount for background and a 22% guilty plea credit were properly applied resulting in a global sentence of five years and eleven mon…
24 Jul 2023

N (CA425/2022) v R [2023] NZCA 313

Citation

[2023] NZCA 313
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court dismissed both appeals: supplementary questioning was largely legitimate clarification and not impermissible repetition; prosecutor's repeated focus on absence of motive did not shift the onus because questions sought facts known to the accused and the jury were repeatedly and expressly directed that the Crown bore the burden and the accused had no obligation to prove motive; the closing, though forceful, was not improperly intemperate; and the sentencing Judge lawfully assessed the s27 cultural report, was entitled to give it no discount given inconsistencies and lack of causal lin…
24 Jul 2023

35fab58b-a1e5-4ca3-bc5b-fcc03fc69eb6.pdf

Citation

openlaw-b7275eea_d6df_40c9_b43f_cdf90bdb77e4.pdf
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court held the starting point of two years six months for strangulation was available given the aggravating features (victim vulnerability, breach of a protection order, aggravated violence, enduring harm and presence of the child); an eight‑month uplift for the additional offences was justified and, applying the totality principle, the combined sentence of two years four months was not manifestly excessive, so the appeal was dismissed.
11 Jul 2023

RAIHAN MOHAMMED v R [2023] NZCA 295

Citation

[2023] NZCA 295
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court held the Judge did not err in admitting limited prior sexual experience (kissing) evidence under s 44 because the defence had placed that material in issue and it was directly relevant to motive and complainant credibility; the Judge's misstatement about the Crown's reliance on timing was immaterial and did not cause miscarriage of justice; a global starting point of four years and a final sentence of two years and ten months (after mitigation) was available and not manifestly excessive, so both convictions and sentence were affirmed.
24 May 2023

R v MANEY [2023] NZHC 1239

Citation

[2023] NZHC 1239
Court

High Court

Having assessed starting points and both aggravating (premeditation, prior serious domestic violence, victim vulnerability, aggravated head injuries, enduring harm) and mitigating factors (difficult childhood, PTSD, limited mitigation for remorse), the Court imposed an overall determinate sentence of eight years six months' imprisonment (starting point nine years, uplift 12 months, 15% discount) and declined to impose preventive detention because a lengthy determinate sentence together with the possibility of an ESO and parole mechanisms provided adequate protection; the Court set a minimum p…
11 May 2023

FRASER v R [2023] NZHC 1114

Citation

[2023] NZHC 1114
Court

High Court

The Court reduced the lead starting point to three years' imprisonment, allowed a 12‑month uplift for related assaults (yielding a 4‑year adjusted starting point), and affirmed that prior consensual intercourse did not mitigate culpability once the victim withdrew consent and the offender acted to prevent her leaving; ASD explains some initial failures to perceive cues but did not mitigate culpability for the subsequent deliberate acts (pushing, shutting door, verbal statements); applying a 25% guilty plea credit and 25% aggregate personal mitigation (15% for ASD and 10% for character/treatme…
5 May 2023

R v WARWOOD [2023] NZHC 1065

Citation

[2023] NZHC 1065
Court

High Court

The Court applied the R v AM tariff, placed the 17 January 2021 lead sexual offending between the lower and middle of band three and set a 13‑year starting point for the lead assaults, added separate starting points for repeated strangulation and threats, adjusted for totality to 15 years for the 17 January events and to 17 years 6 months for all offending from March 2020–17 January 2021, then reduced that by 15% (guilty plea) and 10% (personal background credit for addiction) and added three months for offending on bail, producing a global concurrent sentence of 13 years 4 months with a mini…