R v Teleiai CA 203/05

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand dismissed the appeal of Michael Fitualii Uaitii Teleiai against his conviction and sentence. Teleiai was convicted by a jury of six counts of sexual violation by rape and six counts of indecent assault, ten of which were representative charges. The appeal against conviction had two grounds: the first involved evidence which the appellant argued should not have been heard by the jury, and the second was an appeal against sentence, where the appellant argued that the 14 years imprisonment with a minimum period of eight years was objectionable as it was disparate with the sentence imposed on the complainant’s stepfather, who had also offended against her. The court found that the appellant was able to raise the fact that the complainant had failed to complain about these events when she had the opportunity in the context of another complaint of sexual assault at the time. The case for the Crown and accused was thoroughly put by the Judge. In those circumstances the essence of the case for the appellant was able to be put to the jury. The court found that there was no miscarriage of justice and dismissed the ground of appeal. The court also dismissed the appeal against sentence, finding that the sentence imposed was appropriate and that there was no unjustifiable and gross disparity between the sentence of Teleiai and the stepfather.

The final orders of the court were that the appeals against conviction and sentence were dismissed.