Carel Viljoen was said to have played a key role in a $2 million international fraud, costing two kiwis a significant amount of money. After being found guilty at trial, he faced up to 7 years in prison. At sentencing Angus successfully advocated for Mr Viljoen to only receive a sentence of home detention, despite the sentencing judge previously indicating that imprisonment was likely. Read the full article here.

Sharanjit Kaur had killed an oncoming motorist while chasing her lover’s wife in a car. At sentencing, she had been sentenced to four years imprisonment for the offending. Matt led the appeal against the sentence, stating that the sentencing judge should have taken into account her poor mental health and issues related to her cultural background, meaning home detention was more appropriate. Read the full article here.

In addition to the news article below about the death of a Tribesmen “Aotearoa” member alleged to have been killed in a “hot box” incident by his fellow gang members, Matt carried out the defence closings for Te Patukino Biddle. While acknowledging that Te Patukino contributed to the death, he stated that the Crown’s claims of murder are incorrect, as the phone recordings Te Patukino made to a friend soon after the incident show Te Patukino admitting to manslaughter and what he had done. When the Crown submitted that Te Patukino was trying to “soften the blow” by admitting to manslaughter on the phone, Matt questioned their logic, pointing out that it defies common sense that someone would admit to hurting and killing a mutual friend as a means to “soften the blow” of the death. Read the full article here.

Five gang members or associates of the Tribesmen Aotearoa chapter are undergoing trial for murder in the Hamilton High Court, having been alleged to have killed fellow chapter member Mark “Shark” Hohua in 2022. He had been subjected to a “hot box”, a form of physical punishment used by the gang to reprimand their members when they had done something wrong- in this case the personal use of chapter funds. Matt, while defending one of the accused Te Patukino Biddle, stated that the meeting the hot box was done at wasn’t held with the focus of carrying out the punishment, but was instead to address the gang’s wider problems with their rivals, the Killer Bees. Matt would go on to state that while Te Patukino had finished with his role in the punishment, others would go on to continue it excessively, eventually resulting in Mark fleeing and falling down some dangerous stairs that resulted in the harm. Read the full article here.

Heather du Plessis-Allan from Newstalk ZB interviewed Matt Goodwin seeking his perspective on the potential for criminal liability in the death of a Palmerston North teen participating in a ‘run it straight’ game. Matt explained that the Police may have been hasty in reaching a decision not to carry out criminal investigations, especially in light of the manner of harm, but acknowledged that the Police are privy to facts that the public are not. Listen to the interview here.