Witness 'memory loss' angers judge

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 533, 26 April 1994, Page 13

Witness 'memory loss' angers judge

The following cases were heard by Judge Richard Watson in the Ohakune District Court last Thursday. Police sergeant Bob Evans of Ohakune appeared for the prosecution. Case abandoned Neville Loli Lauese, 35, mill-hand of Ohakune, faced a charge of assault with intent to injure Kara Joy-Marie Hudson on 8 August last year when he appeared for a defended hearing last Thursday after earlier pleading not guilty. The police prosecution was to have called five witnesses of whom one was the original complainant (Hudson) and another was Lance Whale of Ohakune. Sergeant Bob Evans asked the Court if they would hear the evidence of Lance Whale first as this witness was feeling ill. The request was granted and Mr Whale took the stand, looking distinctly unwell. In reply to questioning he said that he and Lauese had gone to the Ohakune Hotel after a day's carrotpicking and had met up with Lauese' s girlfriend Kara Hudson at about 8.30pm. An argument had started between Lauese and Hudson and when they left the publicbarat about 10.30pm all three decided to walk home, Mr Whale to his house in Conway Street and Lauese and Hudson in Arawa Street.. As they were passing the Conway Street address Lauese and Hudson accepted an invitation to come in for a cup of coffee and Mr Whale went into the kitchen while the other two . went into the lounge where the argument continued. In response to a series of questions about the events in the house - including whether he had observed an assault, had witnessed or heard complainant being hit, had telephoned the police for assistance, or had seen blood on the floor - Mr Whale said he had no recollection of anything, replying to all questions with either "don' t know" or " can't remember". At this point Judge

Watson asked Mr Whale if he was having difficulty remembering what happened because he was feeling ill in the witness box or whether he genuinely could not remember the events of that night. Mr Whale said he could not remember anything about what happened after leaving the hotel. Sergeant Evans said there seemed no point in continuing to hear evidence from this witness and asked that the second witness, Ms Hudson, be called. When she took the stand Ms Hudson admitted that she and Lauese had been arguing all evening: She denied that there had been any physical violence - "only verbal" and said that Lauese had not struck her at any stage during the evening. Asked whose blood it was in the lounge and kitchen, on the stairs and in the upstairs bathroom and bedrooms she admitted it was hers. "How did that happen?" asked Sergeant Evans. "I fell and cut my eye," replied Ms Hudson. "Did all that blood come from a cut to the eye?" "Yes." Witness was then handed photographs of the injuries she sustained that night as well as a medical certificate from Dr Corbett after she had been admitted to Raetihi Hospital. Both the photographs and the doctor's report showed that extensive injuries to her face, including bruised and swollen lips and nose and a cut eye, had been suffered by Ms Hudson that night. In reply to further questioning witness agreed that police had been called to the house that night and when they arrived she was on the kitchen floor trying to mop up the blood. After being remindedby the judge that she was under oath, she continued to deny that her injuries were the result of an assault by defendant.

At this point Judge Watson adjourned proceedings and retired to chambers to consult with prosecution counsel. When Court resumed Judge Watson said that the case would "reluctantly" have to be abandoned because of lack of evidence from the two principal witnesses. "Neither of these witnesses have done themselves any credit," he said. "I am extremely unhappy and can only speculate as to the sudden loss of memory on the part of the first witness ... either he has been smoking too much dope or there is some other motive." "As for Ms Hudson, she is clearly lying though I'm not sure why ... the injuries were obviously not self-in-flicted," he said. "This is the sort of incident that gives the community a lot of concern when a victim of assault is not prepared to testify." He warned Ms Hudson to be cautious about her future relationships saying that all the evidence before the Courts points to a pattern of repeatbehaviour and she is now in jeopardy of experiencing similar incidents in the future. Counsel: Gary Johnson. Community service sentence Tania Elizabeth Taku, 33, solo parent of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft when she appeared on the following charges as well as an earlier charge of receiving a motor vehicle. The two theft charges related to shop-lifting charges in Taumarunui (where she stole five animal stickers valued at $5 from DEKA NZ Ltd between 1 1 and 15 April) and in Te Kuiti (where she stole a pair of shoes valued at $31 from Chapman Shoes Ltd on 20 April). Judge Watson warned Taku about the people with whom she was associating and said of one of them (her

child's father who she said she had been unable to contact in order to obtain help and thus avoid the need for stealing) that he, Judge Watson, could put her in touch with him "as he appears before me in Court most Tuesdays". Taku was given a 200 hour community service sentence on both the receiving and the theft charges. She was also remanded to appear for a defended hearing in the Wanganui District Court on 1 3 June on an unrelated charge. Excess alcohol Gavin Sutton, 42, of . Ohakune, pleaded guilty to a charge of excess blood alcohol (176/100) on 11 September last year. He was convicted and fined $900, court costs $95 and disqualified for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay $ 1 1 9 for medical and analyst's fees. Careless driving charges Cameron Peter Berry, 29, farmer of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to two charges of careless use of a motor vehicle causing injury on State Highway One near Taupo on 6 February. Court heard how he had been returning home towing a boat and trailer after spending a holiday with his family when he crossed the centre line and collided with another vehicle. The other vehicle contained five occupants each of whom sustained injury of various degrees, two of which were serious. The victim impact report stated that all had suffered some degree of trauma including fear of driving. Berry said that he had no recollection as to how the accident occurred saying (through counsel) that he had not been driving at excessive speed, had not been drinking and had made several rest stops during the journey. Judge Watson said the fact that both Berry 's wife and two children had fallen asleep should perhaps have alerted the driver to pay extra attention to his driving as he had no-one to speak to and suggested that he too (Berry) might have also momentarily fallen asleep. Judge Watson said all motorists were reliant on the driving of others particularly drivers of on-com-ing cars as there is no time to react to a vehicle suddenly crossing the centre line. Defence counsel (Mr Paul Brown) said that, as a result of this accident his client had consulted a doctor about the possibility of a temporary blackout associated with work-related stress. Berry has now changed his work patterns, hired more staff and changed from sheep to cat-

tle farming to reduce his work-load. He was convicted and fined $750 on each of the two charges and disqualified for 12 months. Stole toothbrush TamaPaul, 19,labourer, pleaded guilty to stealing a toothbrush valued at $3.05 from the Dublin Street Dairy in Wanganui on 5 April. Judge Watson told defendant that had it not been for his (Paul's) previous convictions, this case could have been handled differently. He was convicted and fined $50, court costs $95.

Fined $3200 Stephen Peters, 33, kitchen-hand for the Defence Department at Waiouru, pleaded guilty to a charge of excess blood alcohol (196/100) when stopped at a check-point on 18 December. Described by Judge Watson as "a-consistent and persistent offender" in relation to drink-driving offences Peters was given the option of paying a fine or serving a sentence of periodic detention. He chose to pay a fine because of his commitment to farming a 700-acre block of land at

Irirangi. He was convicted and fined $3200 (to be paid within 28 days), court costs $95, and disqualified for 18 months. He was also given a final warning regarding drink-driving and ordered to pay analyst's fees and medical expenses totalling $110. Counsel: Gary Johnson. Cannabis possession Clayton John Henare, 18, tree pruner of Raetihi, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of cannabis on 30 March. Tum to Page 15

OHAKUNE DISTRICT COURT

FROM PAGE 13 Court heard how Henare had been the occupant of a vehicle (parked behind the Ohakune Hotel) in which a tin containing a small quantity of cannabis and cigarette papers had been found. Defendant admitted they belonged to him. He was convicted and fined $ 1 00, court costs $95, this being defendant's first appearance in Court. Name suppression granted An Ohakune man was given name suppression after he had pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a female on the grounds that it was a family matter. Speaking on behalf of defendant, Pastor John Mason of the Apostolic Church said that as a result of an accident to his hand, defendant had until now been unable to find employment despite a very good work record in the past. The Ohakune branch of

the Apostolic Church had now been able to provide defendant with work on a non-profit project and was willing to offer counselling on anger management. Defendant was given a 25-hour community service sentence. Defended hearing Adrian Michael Brown, unemployed of Raetihi, was remanded for a defended hearing on a charge of as-

saulting a female on 1 9 February after pleading not guilty to the charge. The defended hearing is set down for 23 June in the Ohakune District Court. Remanded without plea Gina Marie Hagley, 20, Access worker of Ohakune, was remanded without plea on a charge of theft (shoplifting) at Turangi on 7 February, to appear in the Ohakune District Court on 19 May.