Grant v The Queen

[2021] NZHC 1418

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND NELSON REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA WHAKATŪ ROHE

CRI-2021-442-4

[2021] NZHC 1418

BETWEEN

SAMANTHA JANE GRANT

Appellant

AND

THE QUEEN

Respondent

Hearing:

20 April 2021, further material received on 3 June 2021

Counsel:

Appellant in person

J W Cameron for Respondent

Judgment:

15 June 2021

JUDGMENT OF ELLIS J

[1]        Ms Grant appealed her convictions on three charges of contravening a protection order1 and one charge of wilful damage.2 Her convictions were entered after she had pleaded guilty to the charges.

[2]        On 31 May 2021 I issued an interim judgment in which I indicated that, subject to hearing further from Mr Cameron, I was minded to allow Ms Grant’s appeals on the basis that she should have been advised to seek, and should have sought, a discharge without conviction.3 But I also indicated that were her appeal to be determined on the bases advanced by her, it would be dismissed.

[3]This judgment needs to be read together with that earlier one.

1      Family Violence Act 2018, ss 90(b) and 112(1)(a) [maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment].

2      Summary Offences Act 1981, s 11 [maximum penalty three months’ imprisonment or a $2,000 fine].

3      Grant v R [2021] NZHC 1244.

GRANT v R [2021] NZHC 1418 [15 June 2021]

[4]        In response to directions made in my earlier judgment, on 3 June 2021 I received a memorandum from Mr Cameron. In it, he raised matters that had not previously been made known to me. In particular, he advised that:

(a)Ms Grant had previously been granted a discharge without conviction; and

(b)She was facing further active charges of breaching the protection order.

[5]        I then issued a further minute indicating that these matters appeared to diminish materially the prospect of any Court exercising its discretion to grant Ms Grant any (further) discharges without conviction. In light of the view I had previously expressed about the merits of her original appeal, I invited Ms Grant to think carefully about whether she now wished to pursue the matter. I nonetheless gave her the opportunity—if she wished to pursue the appeal—to file a brief affidavit addressing the matters raised by Mr  Cameron.  I said that if  no such affidavit was received by  5 pm on Friday 11 June 2021 I would proceed finally to determine the appeal on the basis of the arguments initially advanced.

[6]        No such affidavit has been filed or served. I therefore dismiss Ms Grant’s conviction appeals, for the reasons given by me in my earlier judgment. Paragraphs

[22] to [29] of that judgment, in particular, are relevant.

Rebecca Ellis J

Solicitors:

Crown Solicitor, Nelson for Respondent