cannabisnews.com: Second US Man Let Off Over Drugs





Second US Man Let Off Over Drugs
Posted by FoM on January 09, 2000 at 11:04:35 PT
By Seth Robson and NZPA
Source: The Press Online
The billionaire businessman who walked free from an Auckland court on Friday was the second American let off drug charges in the court that day. Just minutes before the case of the super rich America's Cup visitor, Judge David Harvey discharged an American caught at Auckland Airport trying to bring cannabis into the country. The court's leniency to the billionaire, whose name was suppressed by Judge Harvey, made news around the world.
The tycoon's identity was published in newspapers outside the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts and plastered on the Internet. Lawyers for the New Zealand Herald will file papers in the Otahuhu District Court today seeking leave to appeal to the High Court against Judge Harvey's suppression order. The billionaire, caught with more than 100g of cannabis resin as he entered the country, is understood to have agreed to make a donation to Auckland drug rehabilitation centre Odyssey House. But he will have little time left to enjoy the America's Cup as the Immigration Service has slapped a limited purpose permit on him requiring him to leave the country by Wednesday. In suppressing his name, Judge Harvey decided that identification would be a penalty out of proportion to the offence. However, the man was named by at least three newspapers published in his home city over the weekend. Judge Harvey earlier entered no conviction against the second man on the grounds that it could have jeopardised his job as a safety officer and ordered him to contribute $250 towards the cost of the prosecution. The billionaire businessman admitted three charges involving more than 100g of cannabis resin and leaf. Customs officials found 56g of hashish, a concentrated class B cannabis derivative and 47g of class C cannabis plant at Auckland Airport and elsewhere. The immigration permit gave the man seven days stay in the country from the time he was charged, solely to attend court. There was no room for appeal. Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel yesterday that she was keen to discuss the man's immigration status with her officials. "I am not going to second-guess the judge's decision. "All I am saying is that I am interested in the immigration aspects of it and I am going to have them checked out," she said. Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos said the failure of the courts to punish the billionaire was typical of the hypocrisy surrounding cannabis laws. There are many examples of overseas visitors receiving convictions for drug importation. In 1996, a German tourist, Walther Paul Karl-Heinz Burow, was fined $10,000 for bringing in 12.3g of hashish for his own use, and an Austrian tourist, Torsten Atnickel, was jailed for three weeks for importing 16g. In 1997, Englishman Christopher Ian Hall got six months periodic detention for importing 3.4g. A Californian yachtsman, William Collier, who was caught with half a kilogram of cannabis, was fined $1300 and thrown out of New Zealand in November 1998. Two years ago, American businessman Robert Lindner, of the Chiquita Bananas empire, was fined $12,500 and thrown out for importing cocaine and cannabis for his own use. He brought in 11g of cocaine, and 8g of cannabis, discovered during an airport strip search. A German family, the Schiers, were deported last year after Guenther Schier failed to declare German drug convictions on his entry to New Zealand 10 years earlier. Published: Monday, January 10, 2000New Zealand News from The PressRelated Articles:Drug Count Against CEO at Progressive Discharged-1/08/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4223.shtmlAmerican Walks Free After Being Arrested - 1/08/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4220.shtml 
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