Adams v The Queen - [2017] NZCA 17

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

CA376/2015
[2017] NZCA 17

BETWEEN	JOHN PATRICK ADAMS Appellant
AND	THE QUEEN Respondent

Hearing:	15 February 2017
Court:	Miller, Mallon and Peters JJ
Counsel:	E J Forster for Appellant C A Brook and A B Richards for Respondent
Judgment:	21 February 2017 at 3.00 pm

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

AAn extension of time to appeal is granted.
BThe appeal is dismissed.

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REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by Miller J)

John Adams appeals his conviction for the murder of Tamati Tupe on
30 September 2012. He says that he was convicted as a principal but was in fact a party and had a defence of withdrawal which was not put to the jury. For this state of affairs he blames his trial counsel.
The narrative at trial was that Mr Tupe’s car had broken down at Otara, out of his neighbourhood, and he went to retrieve it. On the way, he had the misfortune to encounter Mr Adams, apparently at a bus stop on McLennan Road in Mt Wellington. Mr Adams assaulted him violently, placed him in a headlock, and treated him as a trophy, describing himself as the master and Mr Tupe as his bitch. He marched Mr Tupe to an address at Sophia Place where Mr Adams’ associates were. There Mr Tupe was again assaulted by Mr Adams and others. The homeowner ordered them to leave and they took Mr Tupe to a reserve at Hillside Road, where he was again assaulted by Mr Adams and others. This third and final series of assaults included a body slam or charge by Mr Adams that knocked Mr Tupe to the ground as he tried to flee after an acquaintance, Hohepa Adams, intervened and helped him up. Mr Adams then delivered further blows. There is no evidence that Mr Tupe got up again. Mr Adams left the scene, saying nothing to his associates, and went home.
The assaults were grievous, including kicks to Mr Tupe’s head and stomping. There was eyewitness evidence of a powerful kick to the head, and numerous punches by Mr Adams, who is an amateur boxer, at McLennan Road. By the time Mr Tupe arrived at Sophia Place he was already displaying symptoms of a subdural haemorrhage that was exacerbated by subsequent blows and killed him. He was described as dozy, with his head hanging to the side. When he tried to flee Hillside Road he had to be helped up and was having trouble controlling his body. Immediately after the final assault by Mr Adams he was seen to be lying on his back, with his hands shaking in the air, and “snorting”. He could not be roused. There was medical evidence that snoring is a sign of impending death.
Mr Adams stood trial with another person, Joel Lo, who was also found guilty of murder. The Crown’s case was that Mr Adams was a principal and Mr Lo a party or principal. The sentencing remarks of…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Adams v The Queen

Details

AGLC: Adams v The Queen [2017] NZCA 17
Case: [2017] NZCA 17
Decision Date: 21 February 2017 at 3.00 pm

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the appeal of CA376/2015, the appellant, John Patrick Adams, contests his conviction for the murder of Tamati Tupe, which occurred on 30 September 2012. Adams claims that he was wrongly convicted as a principal in the murder rather than as a party, and that his defence counsel failed to present his defence of withdrawal to the jury. The appeal was heard by Miller, Mallon, and Peters JJ, with arguments presented by counsel for both parties. The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the appellant's trial counsel erred in not advising him of a potential defence of withdrawal and whether such a defence, if presented, would have been successful.

The Court found that the appellant had not provided a credible account to his counsel that would have supported a defence of withdrawal. Adams' own statements and the written account provided to counsel did not suggest that he intended to withdraw from the crime when he left the scene. Instead, the evidence indicated that Adams continued to assault Tupe until he left the scene, and any subsequent injuries inflicted by others did not negate the substantial and operative cause of death being the assaults carried out by Adams. The Court held that there was no error on the part of the trial counsel and that the jury's verdict was supported by the evidence presented. The Court also noted that Adams' account, if believed by the jury, would likely have resulted in his conviction. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed.

The Court granted an extension of time to file the appeal due to Adams' young age, social disadvantage, and frequent transfers between prisons. However, the appeal was dismissed on the merits, and no orders were made regarding the sentence. The Court did not address the minimum period of 14 years attached to Adams' life imprisonment sentence.

Orders