cannabisnews.com: Police May Appeal Judge's Ruling to Discharge





Police May Appeal Judge's Ruling to Discharge
Posted by FoM on January 14, 2000 at 10:04:20 PT
Wellington - NZPA
Source: The Press Online
The office of the Police Commissioner has stepped into the case of the billionaire who imported drugs. It is expected to announce if it will appeal against the man's discharge without conviction next week. Assistant Police Commissioner Neville Trendle, the national police prosecutions manager, confirmed he was reviewing the file and was awaiting Judge David Harvey's sentencing notes which were not available until the judge returned from holiday next week. 
"I will be looking at the notes with the chief legal adviser to see where we go from here." The businessman was discharged without conviction by Judge Harvey in the Otahuhu District Court after admitting three counts of importation, including the class B drug hashish. Mr Trendle said if police decided to appeal Judge Harvey's decision, the file would be forwarded to the Solicitor-General at the Crown Law Office for further advice. Any application to appeal had to be lodged within 14 days of the businessman's sentencing last Thursday. The businessman's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, said she was confident of defeating any possible appeal as there had been a lot of precedent regarding the discharge without conviction under section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act. "And of course the fact that they didn't oppose it in the first place makes it sort of rather difficult for them to do it now - in fact they said they were not adverse to the making of the orders which goes further in simply not opposing." Meanwhile, the girlfriend of a French student convicted and fined for drug importation by Judge Harvey a day after he discharged the businessman on more serious charges, said customs had interviewed her in relation to her boyfriend's actions. Wellington-based Michelle Baracco, 19, on a working holiday in New Zealand, said customs had decided to take no further action. Ghislain Couston, 19, was arrested as he arrived at Auckland International Airport on January 3 and charged with earlier attempting to send a 4g block of hashish to Ms Baracco's address. Couston, before he was deported on Tuesday, said he was naive in sending the drugs but that it was unfair that a billionaire could walk free on charges involving the importation of substantial quantity of the same drug. A Spanish journalist in Auckland to cover the America's Cup has been convicted and ordered out of New Zealand for possessing 7g of cannabis. Jaime Rossello Portman was ordered to pay court costs and was not given name suppression in the Auckland District Court last week. He had 93g less cannabis than the American billionaire. WELLINGTONNZPANew Zealand News from The Press Friday, January 14, 2000Related Articles:NZ Accused of Drugs Double Standard After Student - 1/12/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4272.shtmlJailed Man Angry That Billionaire Walked Free - 1/11/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4262.shtmlMarijuana Arrest is a New Spotlight - 1/11/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4258.shtmlGovernment Queries Court Sentence on Billionaire- 1/11/2000http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4256.shtml 
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