Judge chooses first truth in drugs case

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 31, 19 January 1988, Page 12

Judge chooses first truth in drugs case

The following defended cases were heard by Judge E.W. Unwin in the Ohakune District Court on 17 December. Police sergeant Neil Coker appeared for the prosecution. Charmaine Larisha Green, 25, solo parent of Raetihi, appeared on two not guilty pleas to charges of (1) permitting premises to be used for the commission of an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act and (2) the possession of utensils used in the commission of an offence under the same act. The first prosecution witness was Constable John Fraser of Ohakune who gave evidence of executing a search warrant at defendant's address in Duncan Street at 9.30pm on 1 2 June last year. He told the Court that he found two blue folders under a 'lazy-boy' rocker

chair in the lounge. In one of the folders (exhibit A) he found eight self-sealing plastic bags and four sheets of paper containing people's names with cash amounts and notations of weights beside them together with $492 cash in various denominations. Two of the bags were subsequently sent to the DSIR for analysis and were found to contain residue of cannabis plant material. In the second folder (exhibit B) he found $40 in cash and a business card with defendant's name on it. In the kitchen he found a school notebook (exhibit C) with more names and amounts with the words "39 bullets" on the centre page. In the laundry he found a cardboard box (exhibit D) in which there was a plastic bottle as well as four knives whose tips appeared to have been burned and

blackened. These exhibits were also subsequently sent to the DSIR for analysis and were found to contain the residue of cannabis resin. Constable Fraser took defendant to the Ohakune police station where, after being cautioned, she made a statement admitting the knives and bottle were hers as well as the blue folder with her name on it. The second prosecution witness was Constable John Robinson of Raetihi. He told the court of his experience with the undercover drug scene and described to the Court how a plastic bottle from which the base had been cut was placed over the mouth and nose while the narrower top-end was held over the tip of the knife on which various drug substances were heated. This type of plastic bottle was known in drug circles as a 'bong' . When asked, under cross examination, if he had ever heard of shcarers who bend their combs by heating up the tips of knives he replied: "No, I've not heard of it". The defendant then took the witness stand to give evidence on her own behalf. She told the Court that on the evening in question she had been to the local hotel where she had consumed about eight large bottles of Rheineck beer. She denied knowing anything about drugs or having drugs in her house. She told the Court that some friends in a shearing gang had asked if they could leave the cardboard box (exhibit D) in the laundry. She had not checked what was in the box. Another friend had asked if he could leave the blue folder (exhibit A) in her house and she agreed without ehecking the contents. She denied knowing how the school notebook (exhibit C) got into the kitchen ... "possibly my daughter's friends". She also denied that the name 'Charmaine' in her friend's blue folder (exhibit A) was hers ... "it must be someone else". The second defence witness was Robert Edmonds, a shearer of Raetihi. He told the Court that he left some of his gear in a cardboard box in defendant's laundry on the day the search warrant was executed after returning

from a day's shearing and crutching. He said he used the knives to bend shearing combs. Under cross examination he told the court the rest of his gear he had left at his own house, two doors away. The third defence witness was Hillary Metekingi who lived next door to the defendant in Duncan Street. She gave evidence that defendant appeared to be very upset when she retumed from the pub to find that police had conducted a search warrant in her absence. The final defence witness

was Duncan Metekingi, shearing contractor of Raetihi, who described how shearers used the heated tips of knives to bend and spread the teeth of shearing combs. In his summing up Judge Unwin said this was "clearly a situation in which defendant was either telling the truth when she made her statement at the Ohakune police station on 12 June or was telling the truth when she gave evidence today in Court". "Normally people are closer to the truth at the time of making their first

statement rather than when they gave evidence at a subsequent hearing". He said that he also had to take into account that one of the key defence witnesses (the alleged owner of the blue folder known as exhibit A) had elected not to give evidence as originally intended. He found both charges established and remanded defendant to appear in the Ohakune District Court on 12 February for a community service or periodic detention assessment report. Counsel: Jim Rota of Wanganui.