R v Wright - [2014] NZCA 119

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

CA831/2013
[2014] NZCA 119

BETWEEN	THE QUEEN Appellant
AND	JOHN DAVID WRIGHT Respondent

Hearing:	12 March 2014
Court:	Wild, Goddard and Clifford JJ
Counsel:	S B Edwards for Appellant R A Harrison for Respondent
Judgment:	3 April 2014 at 10.30 am

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

AThe application for leave to appeal is granted.
BThe appeal against sentence is allowed.
CThe sentence of six months’ home detention, with a further six months’ post-detention conditions is quashed and a sentence of one year and two months’ imprisonment substituted in its place.
DMr Wright is ordered to surrender himself to the Picton Police Station, 36 Broadway, Picton at 10 am on Monday 7 April 2014.

____________________________________________________________________

REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by Clifford J)

Introduction

The respondent, John Wright, pleaded guilty to one count of injuring a police officer, Senior Constable Woolf, with intent to injure in February 2013. On 13 November 2013 Judge Mill sentenced Mr Wright in the Blenheim District Court to six months’ home detention, with a further six months’ post-detention conditions.[1]
[1]R v Wright DC Blenheim, CRI-2013-006-180, 13 November 2013 [Sentencing notes].
The Solicitor-General seeks leave to appeal against Mr Wright’s sentence on the ground that it is manifestly inadequate.

Facts

At about 9.20 am on 21 February 2013, Mr Wright was standing outside the public library in Picton when Senior Constable Woolf drove past in his patrol car. Mr Wright began yelling abuse and obscenities at Senior Constable Woolf. The Senior Constable stopped the car and approached Mr Wright, who had by then entered the library. In the library, and in the presence of other library patrons, Mr Wright continued to yell abuse at the Senior Constable. Mr Wright was arrested for disorderly behaviour.
Senior Constable Woolf took Mr Wright to the Picton police station. On arrival Mr Wright was co-operative and removed his shoes on request. Senior Constable Woolf began to remove Mr Wright’s handcuffs. When one handcuff was removed Mr Wright, without warning, punched Senior Constable Woolf in the mouth, causing him to fall backwards onto the concrete floor and stunning him. Mr Wright continued to punch the officer in the head and face, throwing over 30 punches – still with handcuffs attached to one wrist, while the officer tried to cover his head with his hands.
A female (non-sworn) watch house officer tried to stop the assault, but was unable to do so. With the help of an off-duty officer who happened to be at the police station, and the use of a yard broom and pepper spray, Mr Wright’s attack on the Senior Constable was stopped and he was removed to a cell.
Mr Wright’s attack on the Senior Constable was captured on CCTV. Mr Wright’s attack involved a high level of violence over some several minutes.
Senior Constable Woolf was initially treated in hospital for minor concussion and extensive cuts and bruises over all his face, head and forearms. Two lacerations around his left…

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 Wright

Details

AGLC: R v Wright [2014] NZCA 119
Case: [2014] NZCA 119
Decision Date: 3 April 2014 at 10.30 am

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, the appeal case of R v Wright involved the respondent, John Wright, who pleaded guilty to injuring a police officer with intent to injure in February 2013. The Blenheim District Court sentenced him to six months’ home detention and a further six months’ post-detention conditions. The Solicitor-General sought leave to appeal against the sentence, arguing that it was manifestly inadequate. The appeal case raised several legal issues, including whether the starting point sentence was appropriate, whether the discount for the guilty plea was correct, and if the decision to commute the sentence to home detention was appropriate.

The Court of Appeal found that the starting point sentence of three years was within range, as it was consistent with the range argued for by the Crown at sentencing. The 25 per cent discount for the guilty plea was appropriate, and the Court agreed that it was difficult to see the basis for any further discount. The Court considered the time Wright had spent on electronically monitored bail, which it found could have warranted a credit of four months. The main factor in determining the appropriateness of a sentence of home detention was whether it adequately denounced and deterred the serious, violent offending against a police officer. The Court concluded that the factors the Judge relied on in deciding to commute the sentence to one of home detention did not outweigh the need for a sentence of imprisonment as the appropriate response to the offending. The sentence of home detention was manifestly inadequate, and the Court substituted a sentence of imprisonment for a term of one year and two months.

The Court granted the Solicitor-General leave to appeal, allowed the appeal, and quashed the original sentence of six months’ home detention, with a further six months’ post-detention conditions, and substituted a sentence of one year and two months’ imprisonment. John Wright was ordered to surrender himself to the Picton Police Station on April 7, 2014.

Orders