R v Skipper

The case of R v Skipper was heard in the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, with the appeal being heard on 20 June 2007. The appellant, Daniel Wayne Skipper, was appealing against his convictions and sentence in the District Court at Nelson, where he had been convicted on three counts: permitting a girl between the ages of 12 and 16 to do an indecent act, and having sexual intercourse with a girl between the same ages who was not his wife on two separate occasions. The appellant was sentenced to four-and-a-half years imprisonment to be served cumulatively with a sentence imposed in the High Court for possessing and supplying methamphetamine. The central legal issues in this case were whether the charges against the appellant were brought within the required time limit, and if the convictions should be quashed due to a potential miscarriage of justice. The court considered whether the prosecution was commenced within 12 months from the time when the offence was committed, as required by s 134(7) of the Crimes Act 1961. The court found that counts 1 and 4 were brought out of time, and thus the District Court had no jurisdiction to determine them. However, the court allowed the appeal against the conviction on count 3, directing a retrial of the charge in the District Court with an amended information to limit the relevant period of offending. The appeal against sentence was dismissed as it was no longer necessary to consider it. The court granted leave to appeal out of time, allowed the appeal against conviction on count 3, and directed the entry of acquittals on counts 1 and 4. The appeal against sentence was dismissed. The court also issued an order prohibiting the publication of the judgment or any part of the proceedings in news media or on the internet until the final disposition of the retrial, while allowing publication in Law Reports or Law Digests.