Tihi v Police

[2009] NZCA 404

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND

CA347/2009
[2009] NZCA 404

BETWEENSAMANTHA TIHI

Applicant

ANDPOLICE

Respondent

Hearing:7 September 2009

Court:Chambers, Rodney Hansen and Fogarty JJ

Counsel:Applicant in Person

M D Downs for Respondent

Judgment:14 September 2009 at 2.30 pm

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The application for special leave to appeal is dismissed.

REASONS OF THE COURT

(Given by Chambers J)

[1]       In 2007, Samantha Tihi, the applicant, smashed with a hammer the windows of three vehicles parked in the car park of the Tamaki Oranga Mental Health Unit at Otara in South Auckland.  Ms Tihi’s 16 year old son was in residential care at that unit at that time.  Ms Tihi had become increasingly frustrated by the approach of some of the staff who had responsibilities for her son.  She appears to have taken out those frustrations on staff members’ cars.

[2]       The police charged Ms Tihi with three counts of causing wilful damage.  Following a trial before Judge Andrée Wiltens, she was convicted on all three charges.  The judge subsequently imposed sentences of community work and directed Ms Tihi to pay reparation. 

[3]       Ms Tihi appealed to the High Court.  Allan J dismissed her appeal against conviction and sentence: HC AK CRI 2008‑404‑214 18 March 2009.  Ms Tihi subsequently sought leave to appeal under s 144(1) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, but Allan J dismissed that application on 28 May. 

[4]       Ms Tihi now brings an application for special leave to appeal under s 144(3).  We decline that application as Ms Tihi has not been able to identify any question of law worthy of submission to this court.  As Allan J said, Ms Tihi accepts she used the hammer to damage the vehicles; she seeks to be excused from criminal liability by reason of her motive.  The fact she damaged the cars because she was angry about how some staff members were treating her son cannot be a defence to the charges. 

Solicitors:
Crown Law Office, Wellington