R v Lewis CA311/06

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand heard an application for leave to appeal by Craig Raymond Lewis against a pre-trial ruling by Judge Moore on 22 November 2006. Lewis and his co-accused, Jack Scott, face trial on charges of burglary and wounding with intent to injure. The appeal sought to challenge the Judge's ruling permitting the evidence of T, a child witness, to include the playing of a video interview and for his confirmatory oral evidence to be given via closed-circuit television. The Court considered whether the District Court Judge had jurisdiction to direct T's evidence in chief be given in the form of his video interview and, if so, whether the Judge was right to make the challenged ruling.

The Court held that it had jurisdiction to entertain a challenge to the use of T's evidential video but did not have general appellate jurisdiction in relation to mode of evidence rulings which do not involve a discrete admissibility issue. The Court found that the District Court Judge had inherent power to make orders as to the mode by which any witness may give their evidence, but this power should be exercised with due regard to the expectation that normal process will be followed unless there is a strong reason for departure. The Court concluded that the Judge was right to make the challenged ruling, given the exceptional circumstances of the case, including the trauma experienced by the child witness and the nature of the evidence he was expected to give.

The Court granted leave to appeal but dismissed the appeal, confirming the ruling of Judge Moore. The Court also made an order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the Internet or other publicly accessible database until final disposition of the trial. Publication in Law Reports or Law Digest was permitted.