DJ McWilliam, A Hill and CHR Harvey for Crown HS Edward and T Braithwaite for M Hura
MA Simpkins and EL Reilly for Z Pulemoana
Sentenced:
17 December 2018
SENTENCING NOTES OF FITZGERALD J
Solicitors:Gordon Pilditch, Rotorua Harry Edward Law, Rotorua Lance Lawson, Rotorua
R v Hura [2018] NZHC 3347 [17 December 2018]
Introduction
[1] Mikaere Hura and Zen Pulemoana, you appear for sentencing for your roles in the deaths of Raymond and James Fleet.
[2] Before I sentence you, I do wish to acknowledge the victims’ families and whanau. I have read all the victim impact statements, as I have said. Mrs Georgina Fleet has also read her statement here in Court today. That takes real guts.
[3] It must have been extremely difficult for you all to try to put into words how you feel. Your statements are clear that Raymond and James were loved members of a close-knit family who will dearly miss them. I am not the first Judge to say that the sentences I impose today could never be intended to replace or measure the lives of your loved ones. But I do hope you will find some measure of closure, at least in terms of the Court process, following today’s sentencing. I also wanted to say that I am aware that many of you attended the trial every day. I observed you every day, and wish to commend your quiet dignity in what must have been a harrowing process.
[4] Mr Hura, you are to be sentenced today on two charges of manslaughter, one charge of possessing equipment capable of being used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and one charge of possessing materials capable of being used in such manufacture.
[5] Mr Pulemoana, you are to be sentenced today on one charge of murder and one charge of manslaughter.
Facts of the offending
[6] I will first start with a brief statement of the key facts involved in the offending. Those facts will be known to you, and to many people here in Court today, but it is important the broader public is aware of the basis upon which I am sentencing you today.
[7] These offences stem from your roles in the Mangu Kaha gang here in Rotorua. You were both prospects of that gang. I accept that places you low in the hierarchy. I
also accept that each of you no doubt now deeply regrets becoming involved in this terrible gang, and Mr Hura, it seems this might have been so in your case sometime before these dreadful events occurred. But you each nevertheless made a decision, and you made a choice, that you wanted to be in this gang, knowing what gangs stand for and what they do.
[8] In early August 2017, others more senior in…
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.
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AGLC
R v Hura [2018] NZHC 3347
Case
[2018] NZHC 3347
Decision Date
CaseChat Overview and Summary
Mikaere Hura and Zen Pulemoana appeared before Fitzgerald J in the High Court of New Zealand Rotorua Registry for sentencing on their roles in the deaths of Raymond and James Fleet. Hura was sentenced on two counts of manslaughter, one count of possessing equipment capable of being used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, and one count of possessing materials capable of being used in such manufacture. Pulemoana was sentenced on one count of murder and one count of manslaughter. The court acknowledged the victims' families and whanau, and Fitzgerald J commended them for their quiet dignity throughout the trial. The court considered various factors in determining the appropriate sentences, including the defendants' roles in the gang, their mental capacity, and their remorse. Hura was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, while Pulemoana received a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 14 years. The sentences for the manslaughter of Raymond Fleet were to be served concurrently with the sentences for the murder of James Fleet.