Drug conviction stops settlement in United States

Press, 2 July 1983, Page 5

Drug conviction stops settlement in United States

PA Dunedin A former Timaru man’s attempt to get a rehearing of a 1973 cannabis conviction which is preventing him gaining permanent residence status in the United States has been opposed by police counsel in the District Court at Dunedin. Why should a conviction of a New Zealand court be set aside as a vehicle of convenience for a New Zealand expatriate who wished to live in the United States? counsel for the police, Mr Ivan Main, of Oamaru, asked the Court. David Anthony Robert Ford, aged 30, an acupuncturist now living in Los Angeles, seeks a rehearing of the penalty imposed on him in February, 1973, on a charge of cultivating cannabis, subsequently amended to a charge of aiding a person or persons unknown in the cultivation of a prohibited plant.

Ford has lived in the United States for • some years and is married to an American but his application for permanent residence was rejected last year because of his drug conviction. The charge on which the conviction was entered, and to which he pleaded guilty in the Oamaru court on February 28, 1973, arose from his watering, on one occasion, cannabis plants being grown by another person near a riverbank at Reidston in North Otago. Counsel for Ford, Mr George Berry, of Oamaru, said that as a result of what would now be regarded as a minor conviction, Ford could be asked to leave the United States at any time. His offence had returned to haunt him. Judge Jamieson reserved decision, indicating he would give his finding as soon as possible.

Judge Jamieson reserved decision, indicating he would give his finding as soon as possible.