R v White CA220/05

In the case of The Queen v Dean Charles White, the appellant, Dean Charles White, was found guilty by a jury in the High Court at Auckland on counts alleging the manufacture of the Class A controlled drug methamphetamine and possession of equipment and precursor substances contrary to s 6(1)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. White appealed against his conviction. The legal issues that the Court of Appeal of New Zealand had to decide were whether evidence given by Mr Gordon to the effect that White was a user of methamphetamine resulted in illegitimate prejudice to White which was not adequately or appropriately dealt with by the trial Judge, and whether there is new evidence available which warrants an order for a new trial. The Court found that the evidence of Mr Gordon about White smoking methamphetamine did not significantly prejudice the appellant, and the fresh evidence from Ms Leandra Rogers was relevantly fresh, cogent, and credible enough to warrant a new trial. The appeal was allowed, the convictions were quashed, and a new trial was directed. The court prohibited publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (except for the result as set out in [22]) in news media or on the Internet or other publicly accessible database until the final disposition of the trial, with permission for publication in a Law Report or Law Digest.