R v Uhrle - [2013] NZHC 922

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

CRI-2012-004-4765 [2013] NZHC 922

THE QUEEN

v

CECILIA VICTORIA UHRLE FAAMANU IAN FESULUAI UNALOTO KIPULOTU TONGIA ESAU VAILAGILALA

Hearing: 30 April 2013

Appearances: B D Tantrum and E McCaughan for Crown
G N E Bradford and K W Barron-Afeaki for Uhrle
B L Sellars and K H Maxwell for Fesuluai R J E Brown and R P Chambers for Tongia J Scott and J T Edgar for Vailagilala

Judgment: 30 April 2013

SENTENCE OF COOPER J

Solicitors:
Meredith Connell, Crown Solicitors, PO Box 2213, Upper Shortland Street, Auckland 1140
brett.tantrum@meredithconell.co.nz and evan.mccaughan@meredithconnell.co.nz
Copy to:
G N E Bradford, PO Box 2274, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 gneb@xtra.co.nz
K W Barron-Afeaki, PO Box 106726, Auckland 1143 kahungunu@barronafeaki.com
B L Sellars, PO Box 2674, Shortland Street, Auckland belinda.sellars@22lorne.co.nz
K H Maxwell, PO Box 7140, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1140 kathryn@dstreet.co.nz
R J E Brown and R P Chambers, PO Box 941, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140 rjebrown@xtra.co.nz and roger.chambers@xtra.co.nz vulcan.chambers@xtra.co.nz
Public Defence Service, CX 10075, Auckland jo.scott@justice.govt.nz john.edgar@justice.govt.nz

R V UHRLE HC AK CRI-2012-004-4765 [30 April 2013]

[1] Be seated thank you. Cecilia Uhrle, Faamanu Fesuluai, Unaloto Tongia and Esau Vailagilala, the jury before whom you were tried found you guilty of the murder of John Li’a. On 8 March I convicted you and gave you a warning of the consequences of any further serious offending. I now have to sentence all of you for the crime of murder.

[2] The offending took place in the early morning of 14 October 2011. The events leading up to the crime included a celebration of your birthday, Ms Uhrle, at your home at 27 Revel Avenue, Mt Roskill. Mr Li’a and his sister Millie were present, together with all of you accused.

[3] There was evidence of various arguments that took place during the evening, as a result of which it appears that you, Ms Uhrle became angry with Millie Li’a and at one stage punched her in the face. After that Millie Li’a left the address, together with her brother John and Mr Vailagilala and his then girlfriend Brenda Mikaele, who was your niece, Ms Uhrle. The four younger people ended up outside the shops at Glass Road where Mr Vailagilala broke a number of windows while the others watched. It appears that Mr Li’a at that stage climbed into one of the buildings through the broken window, setting off the burglar alarm.

[4] Some time after that, Ms Uhrle came across Mr Li’a and his sister and invited them back to 27 Revel Avenue. Once there, Ms Uhrle apologised to Millie for assaulting her, but John became upset when he learnt what had happened. There was a further argument and as a result of that John and Millie decided to leave. As they left, Mr Li’a pulled out a neighbour’s letterbox from the ground and used that to smash the rear windscreen of your car, Ms Uhrle. He then proceeded…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Uhrle

Details

AGLC: R v Uhrle [2013] NZHC 922
Case: [2013] NZHC 922
Decision Date: 30 April 2013

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of R v Uhrle involved the conviction of Cecilia Victoria Uhrle, Faamanu Ian Fesuluai, Unaloto KipulOTU Tongia, and Esau Vailagilala for the murder of John Li'a. The offending occurred in the early morning of 14 October 2011 and involved a brutal attack on Mr Li'a by the four accused. The court was required to decide the appropriate sentence for each offender, taking into account the nature of the crime and the individual circumstances of each case. The Crown submitted that the appropriate minimum term of imprisonment for each offender should be at least 17 years, while the defence argued for a lower minimum term, citing mitigating factors such as age, remorse, and lack of prior criminal history. After considering the submissions and the evidence presented, the court decided that the appropriate minimum terms of imprisonment would be 13 years for Ms Uhrle, 15 years for Mr Fesuluai, and 13 and a half years for both Mr Tongia and Mr Vailagilala. The court also issued a three strikes warning to each offender, advising them of the consequences should they commit another qualifying conviction after this warning.

The court found that the crime was serious and involved premeditation, as the offenders went out looking for Mr Li'a with the intent to attack him. The use of weapons and the severity of the assault were aggravating factors, while the age of some of the offenders and their remorse were mitigating factors. The court concluded that the appropriate sentence for each offender should reflect the seriousness of the crime, while also taking into account the individual circumstances of each case. The final orders of the court were that each offender be sentenced to life imprisonment, with the specified minimum terms of imprisonment to be served before parole eligibility.

Orders