R v Taua
[2023] NZHC 3205
•14 November 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND NAPIER REGISTRY
I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA AHURIRI ROHE
CRI-2022-041-1848
[2023] NZHC 3205
THE KING v
MOSES MOHI TAUA
Hearing: 14 November 2023 Appearances:
F E Cleary and C R Stuart for Crown
E A Hall and R E O’Hagan for Defendant
Date:
14 November 2023
SENTENCING REMARKS OF McQUEEN J
[1] Mr Taua, I am addressing you now and I invite you to remain seated although I will ask you to stand at the end of my sentencing remarks.
[2] Mr Taua, you appear today for sentence having pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Arohaina Henare.1 I sentence you in accordance with a sentence indication I provided on 11 September 2023.2
What happened?
[1]I begin by setting out what happened.
1 Crimes Act 1961, s 167(a); maximum penalty life imprisonment.
2 R v Taua HC Napier CRI-2022-041-1848, 11 September 2023 [Sentence Indication Results Judgment]; and R v Taua HC Napier CRI-2022-041-1848, 12 September 2023 [Sentence Indication Reasons Judgment].
R v TAUA [2023] NZHC 3205 [14 November 2023]
[2] Ms Arohaina Henare was living in the garage of a property in Napier. She had been living there for approximately six months. You were known to Ms Henare, and you were also living at the same property in a house with your partner and other occupants.
[3] There were disputes between you and Ms Henare, which culminated on 13 November 2022, with your partner asking Ms Henare to leave the property. Ms Henare objected to being asked to leave and shoved your partner into a wall. In the following days matters calmed down somewhat, but your partner was still planning to tell Ms Henare that she needed to move out.
[4] On 17 November 2022, you came home with food and alcohol and began drinking with a friend, having earlier consumed both cannabis and methamphetamine. You became angry and intoxicated. Around 3:00 am, when you and your partner left the address to obtain drugs, you encountered Ms Henare. You swore at her and told her to move out of the property or be removed. Ms Henare swore back at you, and you became aggressive, but your partner managed to get you to walk away. You and your partner then went and bought cannabis before returning to the house.
[5] On your return to the house, you went into the kitchen and acquired a knife, approximately 15 cm in length. You went into the garage, and stabbed Ms Henare once in the left side of her chest, saying “You were told to leave. How dare you put your hands on my missus”, and swearing at her. Ms Henare was screaming for you to stop. She fell to the ground. Your partner stepped between you and Ms Henare, and told you to leave the garage.
[6] You then went back into the house with the knife, and placed it in the kitchen sink, while Ms Henare was on the floor of the garage, bleeding profusely and unconscious. Your partner panicked, and neither of you called an ambulance. Instead, at around 4:20 am, friends of Ms Henare arrived at the address to check on her. They found her in the garage, unresponsive, and called emergency services. You watched this occur from your front porch, and when one of Ms Henare’s friends spoke to you, you ran out into the backyard of the property, and into Whitmore Park, followed by your partner.
[7] The Police arrived at the address and attempted to resuscitate Ms Henare but were unable to do so. The cause of Ms Henare’s death was confirmed as the stab wound to her chest which punctured her left lung, causing internal bleeding, and resulting in her death.
Victim impact statements
[8] The primary victim of your offending was obviously Ms Henare. But her family and friends have also suffered serious emotional harm from the offending. Our law recognises them as victims too.3 Victim impact statements have been provided by many members of Ms Henare’s whānau, including her children. A statement has also been provided by the trustees of Matahuru Papakaainga Marae. I have read all of these statements. Some have been read out in Court today.
[9] I do not repeat in detail what has already been said. The statements make difficult reading. Put simply, Ms Henare’s whānau do not understand why she was killed and are devastated by her loss. They describe the loss of Ms Henare as causing “deep pure pain, grief, sorrow, and heartbreak”, particularly given the circumstances in which Ms Henare was found. They say that it will take a very long time for the whānau to “put all the pieces together”, and that Ms Henare had an “abundance of love” for her whānau. They say that Ms Henare’s absence will be felt by the whānau for the rest of their lives. Ms Henare had six children, and the statements from several of them explain that they miss her terribly and her death makes them feel angry, sad, and scared. Ms Henare’s family has been immeasurably hurt by her death.
Approach to sentencing for murder
[10] The approach to sentencing for murder is as follows. You must be sentenced to life imprisonment unless that would be manifestly unjust.4 Counsel have agreed that there is nothing to suggest a sentence of life imprisonment would be manifestly unjust. That is therefore the sentence that you must receive.
3 Victims’ Rights Act 2002, s 4.
4 Sentencing Act 2002, s 102(1).
[11] The primary issue for me today is to determine the minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) that you must serve before becoming eligible to apply for parole. The Crown accepts that s 104 of the Sentencing Act is not applicable in your case, meaning that they are not seeking an MPI of 17 years or more on the basis of any of the circumstances set out in s 104(1). Ms Hall agrees with that position.
[12] When a minimum term of imprisonment is imposed with a life sentence it means that the offender is not eligible to be considered for parole earlier than when the minimum term expires. An offender sentenced to life imprisonment is subject to recall to prison for the rest of their life if they offend again after being released on parole. Whether an offender is released on parole is entirely a matter for the Parole Board at the relevant time in the future, but where a minimum term of imprisonment is imposed, the offender must wait until that term has expired before they are entitled to apply for parole.
[13] You must serve a minimum period of imprisonment not less than 10 years, and it must be the minimum period in order to satisfy the following purposes:5
(a)holding you the accountable for the harm done to the victim and the community by your offending;
(b)denouncing your conduct;
(c)deterring you and other persons from committing the same or a similar offence; and
(d)protecting the community from you.
[14] In sentencing you, the principles and purposes of sentencing as set out in the Sentencing Act are also relevant.6
5 Sentencing Act 2002, ss 103(1) and 103(2).
6 Sections 7, 8, and 9.
[15] At the sentencing indication, I heard from counsel for the Crown and your counsel, Ms Hall, about what the appropriate starting point was for your offending.7 I considered other comparable cases to ensure that I would take a consistent approach to other cases with similar features.8 I considered the aggravated features of the offending and whether your extensive previous convictions justified an uplift.9
[16] Taking these matters into account, I conclude that the appropriate starting point for the minimum term of imprisonment in your case, Mr Taua, is 11 years.
[17] As I said at your sentencing indication, your early guilty plea would justify a discount of one year. This recognises that Ms Henare’s family, and the Court, have been saved the time, anguish, and expense of a trial in relation to your offending.
[18] I also said, as was accepted by the Crown, that your personal circumstances may justify a further discount, depending on any further material filed.
Personal circumstances
[19] I now turn to consider your personal circumstances. I have read a pre-sentence report (this is provided by the Department of Corrections) and a cultural report produced for the purposes of s 27 of the Sentencing Act.
[20] Mr Taua, you are a 49 year old Māori man, who grew up in Masterton. You whakapapa to Waikato iwi. You are the youngest of five siblings and you have two half-brothers. Your parents separated when you were very young, and you do not remember ever living with your father, who was absent from your life. There was significant violence in your home prior to your parents’ separation, although you were too young to remember it directly. You were raised by your mother who was not violent and drank infrequently and you remain close to her.
[21] You reported that you suffered abuse when you were six or seven years old, which led you to change your behaviour in a negative fashion. You began drinking at
7 Sentence Indication Reasons Judgment, above n 2, at [19]–[23].
8 At [24]–[29].
9 At [27] and [32]–[34].
ten years old, and using other drugs such as cannabis. You were very close with your older brother, who was involved with the Black Power. However, you observed him beating his partner regularly and he was called on by your mother to physically discipline you. You were then also a member of the Nomads gang, which you gave up in your mid-thirties.
[22] You say that you experienced racism during your primary and intermediate years. You were, however, involved in kapa haka the whole way through your schooling and have begun teaching kapa haka in prison. Your niece described you as having a strong connection to te ao Māori, and that you are a talented carver.
[23] You have had two significant personal relationships. One of your partners miscarried, which you describe as a very difficult experience for you. Your other partner was violently and sexually assaulted in her own home, as a result becoming violent, aggressive, and heavily dependent on methamphetamine. That relationship became dysfunctional and at the time of the offending, you were struggling with your mental health.
[24] You have struggled to deal with the deaths of your father and brother, saying that your drug use heavily increased following your brother’s death. You suffered from the little presence your father had in your life, affecting your sense of identity and belonging. Violence in the home was normalised for you, as a result of the actions of your father and brother. Substance abuse from a young age is likely to have affected your cognitive function and development. Your substance abuse was a result of trauma experienced in your childhood, resulting in a pattern of offending from a young age, and a significant amount of time spent in prison.
[25] The reports suggest that you present as a person struggling to process their actions and that you need urgent and trauma-informed mental health care. The question of whether you suffer from an underlying condition such as post-traumatic- stress-disorder is raised, although I record that the report writer who identified this has no formal psychiatric qualifications.
[26] One of the report writers describes Ms Henare’s murder as marking the culmination of your otherwise sporadic but serious and violent offending. You presented during interviews as deeply ashamed and regretful, and as showing genuine remorse. You have expressed your deep disappointment in yourself for your actions. You expressed your upset for Ms Henare and her family, and report praying for her each day, hoping she can hear you and your apology. Ms Hall has acknowledged that it is premature at this point for there to be contact with Ms Henare’s family but you and your family have expressed your willingness to undertake that should it become appropriate in the future.
[27] Having considered the material in the s 27 and pre-sentence reports and the submissions made by Ms Hall on that material, I accept that you have experienced significant disadvantages and long-standing deprivation in your life. I accept that your background is contributory to your offending.10
Adjustments to MPI
[28]I turn to consider what adjustments to the MPI are appropriate.
[29] I am satisfied that a one year discount is available for your guilty plea, as I have already discussed.
[30] As I explained earlier, the Court is not permitted to impose an MPI of less than ten years.11 Because of this, and as counsel for the Crown and Ms Hall accept, any further discount for your personal circumstances does not need to be quantified.
[31]Accordingly, the MPI will be one of ten years’ imprisonment.
Result
[32]Mr Taua. I ask you to stand please.
10 Solicitor General v Heta [2018] NZCA 2453; and Berkland v R [2022] NZSC 143, [2022] 1 NZLR 509.
11 Sentencing Act 2002, s 103(2).
[33] For the murder of Ms Arohaina Henare, I sentence you, Mr Taua, to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of ten years.
[34]You may stand down.
Addendum
[35] I record that the interim order for Mr Taua’s name suppression has expired. No application for final name suppression was made.
McQueen J
Solicitors:
Crown Solicitor, Napier for Crown
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