R v Edwards

In the New Zealand Court of Appeal, the case of R v Edwards was heard on 1 May 2008. The appellant, Eddie Kauranga Edwards, was convicted of assault with a weapon, male assaults female, possession of an offensive weapon, and theft. He was sentenced to six months of home detention and 100 hours of community work, and was also ordered to pay reparation. Edwards applied for bail pending the final disposition of his appeal, arguing that the appeal has reasonable prospects of success and that the short sentence makes the injustice of him serving it pending appeal greater. He also argued that he was on bail prior to his sentence with no breaches.

The legal issues before the court were the effect of the appeal on a sentence of home detention and the jurisdiction to grant bail in this context. The court considered the changes made to the Crimes Act 1961 and the Sentencing Act 2002 in 2007, which have caused difficulties in determining the effect of an appeal on a sentence of home detention. The court also considered the jurisdiction to grant bail given that a person sentenced to home detention is not "in custody" while serving that sentence. The Crown did not oppose the application for bail, and the appellant argued that there is an anomaly but that the provisions in the Sentencing Act sensibly take priority.

The court granted bail to the appellant, subject to certain conditions. The court was satisfied that it would be in the interests of justice to grant bail, particularly given the unresolved issue of the effect of the appeal on the sentence of home detention. The court also noted that there is a chance that the right of appeal will be rendered nugatory given the length of the sentence and the likely length of time that will pass before the appeal is heard. The appeal was set down for a hearing as soon as possible after 12 June 2008.