Phillips v Police - [2020] NZCA 425

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

I TE KŌTI PĪRA O AOTEAROA

CA541/2019
[2020] NZCA 425

BETWEEN	KATHERINE ANNE STARR PHILLIPS Applicant
AND	NEW ZEALAND POLICE Respondent

Hearing:	1 September 2020
Court:	Kόs P, Wylie and Muir JJ
Counsel:	Applicant in person C A Brook for Respondent
Judgment:	17 September 2020 at 9 am

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The application for special leave to appeal is dismissed.

____________________________________________________________________

REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by Muir J)

Introduction

Ms Phillips seeks special leave to appeal a conviction entered in the District Court at Blenheim in April 2000[1] and in respect of which a subsequent appeal to the High Court was unsuccessful.[2] For the reasons that follow we are satisfied that her application should be declined.

Background

[1]New Zealand Police v Phillips DC Blenheim CRI-1999-006-762451, 17 April 2000.

[2]Phillips v New Zealand Police HC Blenheim AP3/00, 20 July 2000.

Ms Phillips’ conviction was for criminal harassment. The District Court Judge found that she had harassed the wife of a male companion in a manner and for a duration which satisfied the criteria in s 8 of the Harassment Act 1997. She was ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within a year and to pay modest witnesses’ expenses. She appealed that judgment to the High Court. Wild J dismissed her appeal on 20 July 2000.
In 2019, having previously made an unsuccessful direct application to the Court of Appeal,[3] she sought leave from the High Court to appeal the conviction. In her judgment dated 16 September 2019, Cull J declined the application.[4] She held that the proposed appeal did not engage any issue of law of general or public importance and noted that Ms Phillips had failed to provide any explanation for the near 20-year period between her conviction and application. She considered that there was nothing in the application which justified a departure from the principles of finality.

The current application

[3]Phillips v New Zealand Police [2019] NZCA 277.

[4]Phillips v New Zealand Police [2019] NZHC 2330.

The application for special leave is premised on alleged error of law in the District Court decision. Ms Phillips says that she was charged under the name Katherine Ann Phillips with a birth date of 28 August 1949, when her correct name is Katherine Anne Starr Phillips and her date of birth 28 June 1949. She says that the information filed against her was “false” and an abuse of process, that the law is a “precise discipline” and that her conviction is a nullity “in the same way as a bigamous marriage”.

Discussion

Because of the historic nature of the offending, Ms Phillips’ rights are governed by s 144 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957. This provides:

144 Appeal to Court of Appeal—
(1) Either party may, with the leave of the [High Court], appeal to the Court of Appeal against any determination of the [High Court] on any case stated for the opinion…

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 Phillips v Police

Details

AGLC: Phillips v Police [2020] NZCA 425
Case: [2020] NZCA 425
Decision Date: 17 September 2020 at 9 am

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Phillips v Police, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand considered whether to grant Ms. Katherine Anne Starr Phillips special leave to appeal a criminal harassment conviction from 2000. The conviction was initially appealed to the High Court, which dismissed the appeal, and subsequently, Ms. Phillips applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. The court, consisting of Kόs P, Wylie, and Muir JJ, ultimately dismissed the application for special leave to appeal.

The primary legal issue was whether Ms. Phillips' application met the criteria for special leave to appeal as outlined in section 144 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957. Specifically, the court needed to determine if there was a question of law of general or public importance and if the delay in applying for special leave could be justified. Ms. Phillips argued that errors in her name and date of birth rendered the information filed against her false and an abuse of process, leading to a nullity of her conviction.

The Court of Appeal found that the alleged errors in the information did not constitute a miscarriage of justice as they did not deprive the document of its essential character. The information still disclosed a recognisable charge and defendant, and Ms. Phillips did not claim otherwise during the proceedings. Additionally, the court noted that the application failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the nearly 20-year delay. The court concluded that neither the alleged errors nor the delay justified granting special leave to appeal. Therefore, the application for special leave to appeal was dismissed.

Orders