Knight v The Queen - [2018] NZCA 350

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

I TE KŌTI PĪRA O AOTEAROA

CA18/2017
[2018] NZCA 350

BETWEEN	ALASTAIR SCOTT KNIGHT Appellant
AND	THE QUEEN Respondent

Hearing:	16 August 2018
Court:	Kós P, French and Miller JJ
Counsel:	C M Ruane for Appellant R K Thomson and M J Lillico for Respondent
Judgment:	6 September 2018 at 11 am

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The appeal against conviction is dismissed.

____________________________________________________________________

REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by French J)

Introduction

Mr Knight was convicted at trial of burglary and receiving charges.[1]
[1]He was sentenced to four years six months’ imprisonment: R v Knight [2016] NZDC 25871.
He now appeals some of the convictions on the grounds that propensity evidence was wrongly admitted and that the jury’s verdicts were unreasonable being almost entirely based, as he says they must have been, on the unreliable evidence of a co-offender.

Background

Mr Knight stood trial on 12 charges relating to a spate of burglaries in the Christchurch area. His partner Ms Blackburn, who was also charged as a co-offender, is the focus of this appeal.
The charges and the trial outcomes can be summarised in table form as follows.

Charge	Offence	Particulars	Outcome	Appeal status	Outcome for Ms Blackburn
1	Receiving over $1,000	Chainsaw	Discharged at close of Crown case
2	Burglary	2 March 2015, Derby Street	Guilty	Appealed	Pleaded to burglary
3	Receiving $500 or less	Lawn mower	Guilty	Not appealed
4	Burglary	23 March 2015, Brigham Drive	Guilty	Appealed	Pleaded to burglary
5	Possession of instruments for burglary	27 March 2015	Guilty	Appealed	Pleaded to possession of instruments
6	Possession of methamphetamine pipe	27 March 2015	Not Guilty
7	Receiving over $1,000	Trumpet stolen from Mistral Street	Discharged at close of Crown case	Pleaded to receiving trumpet
8	Burglary	28 April 2015, Old West Coast Road	Guilty	Appealed	Pleaded to burglary
9	Burglary	29 April 2015, Finlays Road	Guilty	Appealed	Pleaded guilty to burglary
10	Burglary	30 April 2015, Lower Styx Road	Guilty	Appealed	Pleaded to receiving
11	Burglary	4 May 2015, Old West Coast Road	Guilty	Not appealed	Pleaded to burglary
12	Possession of instruments for burglary	4 May 2015	Not Guilty	Pleaded to burglary

As noted in the table Mr Knight does not appeal charge 11. Mr Knight and Ms Blackburn were observed entering the property which was the subject of that burglary and arrested at a petrol station immediately afterwards.
The charges which are the subject of the appeal are burglary charges two, four, eight, nine and 10 and the charge of possession of burglary instruments.

The evidence of Ms Blackburn

Ms Blackburn pleaded guilty and made two statements to police. In those statements she said relevantly that she and Mr Knight had burgled the Brigham Drive property (charge four) and that Mr Knight had burgled the properties that were the subject of charges eight, nine, and 10 without her.[2]
[2]Ms Blackburn accepted that she was present for some of these other burglaries but denied entering the houses.

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 Knight v The Queen

Details

AGLC: Knight v The Queen [2018] NZCA 350
Case: [2018] NZCA 350
Decision Date: 6 September 2018 at 11 am

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Knight v The Queen, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand dismissed the appellant's appeal against his convictions for burglary and receiving charges. The appellant, Mr Knight, was convicted and sentenced to four years and six months' imprisonment. The appeal pertained to several burglary charges and the possession of burglary instruments. The central issue was whether propensity evidence was improperly admitted and whether the jury's verdicts were unreasonable, largely based on the unreliable testimony of a co-offender.

The court considered the arguments that the evidence linking Mr Knight to the burglaries was unreliable and that the jury should not have considered the propensity evidence. The court rejected these arguments, finding that the trial judge provided a thorough and appropriate direction to the jury regarding the use of propensity evidence. The court held that the evidence was properly before the jury and that the judge's direction was appropriate. The similarities between the burglaries, such as the mode of entry, the timing, and the proximity to Mr Knight's residence, were deemed probative of identity and could be considered by the jury.

In conclusion, the Court of Appeal found that the appeal lacked merit, and the convictions were upheld. The appeal against conviction was dismissed, and the original sentence was maintained.

Orders