R v Porter

[2012] NZHC 3033

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND WELLINGTON REGISTRY

CRI-2012-032-001887 [2012] NZHC 3033

THE QUEEN

v

RIKIHANA JAMES PORTER

Counsel:         A J Ewing for Crown

C J Tennet for Prisoner

Sentence:       15 November 2012

NOTES ON SENTENCE OF COLLINS J

Introduction

[1]Mr Porter, you appear for sentencing on three charges: (1)     Producing cannabis oil;1

(2)       Possession of cannabis for sale;2   and

(3)       Cultivating cannabis.3

1      Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, ss 6(1)(b) and 6(2)(b), maximum penalty 14 years’ imprisonment.

2      Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, ss 6(1)(f) and 6(2)(c), maximum penalty 8 years’ imprisonment.

3      Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, s 9(1) and (2), maximum penalty 7 years’ imprisonment.

R V PORTER HC WN CRI-2012-032-001887 [15 November 2012]

[2]      You are to be sentenced in this Court because the District Court declined jurisdiction to sentence you because of the of two year limit of imprisonment that can be imposed by the District Court for offending of this kind.

[3]      I have been presented with a wide range of options as to what your sentence should be.  The Crown submits that I should adopt a starting point of four and a half years’ imprisonment.    The  pre-sentence  report  recommends  home  detention.   A sentence of home detention can only be considered if your end sentence is two years’ imprisonment or less and I hope that your expectations have not been unduly and unfairly raised by the suggestion contained in the pre-sentence report.

[4]      In sentencing you I will:

(1)       describe your offending;

(2)       explain the starting point for your sentence;

(3)consider what adjustments can be made to the starting point to affect circumstances that are personal to you;

(4)       consider what discount can be applied in response to your guilty plea;

and

(5)       explain your end sentence.

Your offending

[5]      In June this year the police executed a search warrant at the address where you were then living.  It is an industrial building in Seaview.

[6]      Next to your bed the police located two large plastic buckets, each containing three shopping bags full of cannabis head. There is some dispute about the weight of that cannabis.

[7]      At  your  premises  the  police  located  five  separate  growing  rooms,  each containing various quantities of cannabis plant.   In total there were 234 cannabis plants (comprising 133 seedlings and 101 plants of varying sizes).   You do not dispute these quantities.

[8]      In declining to sentence you the learned District Court Judge described your cultivation operation as a “sophisticated cyclical system of ongoing cultivation and harvest ...”.  That was an accurate description of your activities.  The photographs produced to me show that the growing rooms had:

(1)       numerous light shields; (2)       pedestal fans;

(3)       transformers; (4)           air filters;

(5)       ventilation systems;  and

(6)       growing trays/racks.

[9]      The  police  located  a  hydroponic  nursery  area  which  had  96  seedlings growing in plastic trays.  The trays were connected to tubing.  Nutrients were being pumped to these plants.  The police also found an insulation tent.  Inside the tent was a heater, a…