KOLANI LAM V ATTORNEY GENERAL OF SAMOA

Kolani Lam had been convicted in the Supreme Court of Samoa of the murder of his wife by strangulation inside their house, assaulting his stepdaughter and interfering with a witness following a judge alone trial in 2019.

Matt and Ciara were instructed on an appeal against conviction, which was heard in the Samoan Court of Appeal before Justices Young, Harrison, Asher and Tuala-Warren (a full Bench).

On appeal, Matt argued numerous appeal points revolving around errors of previous trial counsel. The most significant error was that a defence pathologist should have been instructed on the cause of death, as the defence theory was that the wife had committed suicide by hanging. To support that argument we instructed Dr Byron Collins, leading Australian pathologist who provided an independent report to the Court and argued that was fresh evidence. Dr Collins agreed that the cause of death was neck compression, but highlighted that the pivotal issue was how that neck compression occurred – suicide or strangulation. While Dr Paul Botterill(engaged by the Attorney General) was of the view that strangulation was the favoured cause of death, Dr Collins said that injuries sustained could be reasonably explained by the process of hanging and resuscitation attempts which had been performed by Mr Lam. 

During the appeal hearing leave to call fresh evidence was granted, both pathologists were closely questioned by both counsel and judges. The evidence of Dr Botterill was preferred.

As a result Mr Lam’s appeal against the murder conviction was dismissed, but granted on the charges of assault on a child and interfering with a witness.

APPEAL AGAINST PRETRIAL RULING ON SEARCH ASSIGNED TO PERMANENT BENCH OF COURT OF APPEAL

Matt and Ciara appeared at Auckland District Court in October 2021 on a pre-trial challenge to a search warrant executed at DN’s home.

We contended that insufficient information was contained in the application for a search warrant to enable the issuing officer to reach the conclusions required by s6(a) and (b) of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.

The Judge agreed that there was an inadequate basis for the warrant to be obtained, but admitted the evidence applying the balancing test under s 30 of the Evidence Act.

We filed an appeal against that ruling with the Court of Appeal. Due to the importance of the issues raised, the Court has assigned the case for hearing by the Permanent Bench of the Court in Wellington (most Auckland appeals are heard by the Divisional Court in Auckland). We are now awaiting the allocation of a hearing date.

APPEAL AGAINST PRETRIAL RULING ON SEARCH FILED

Matt and Ciara appeared at Auckland District Court for a pre-trial challenge to a search warrant executed at their client, OW’s home.

The Police attended OW’s address to locate a suspect, AB on the run who they believed was residing at OW’s address. The Police entered the house on suspicion the suspect was present – albeit, he wasn’t – and instead, found a small quantity of meth they believed belonged to OW.

At the hearing, three Police officers were called to give evidence and were cross-examined by Matt. They admitted that OW explained that AB had stayed there before and provided details of AB’s work address.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge decided the search warrant was lawfully executed in terms of the invocation of the powers under both s 7 and s 20 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.

A Notice of Appeal has been filed with the Court of Appeal against this ruling, we are now awaiting allocation of a hearing date.

Media

How police and homeowners brought down a Wellington drug syndicate

How police and homeowners brought down a Wellington drug syndicate

“… Matthew Goodwin spoke of his client’s journey since his second arrest, labelling it “transformational…

Former builder faced Judge Peter Hobbs for sentencing in the Wellington District Court, hoping for the home detention sentence his lawyer fervently argued for. He wasn’t granted home detention – but did receive a 70 per cent discount off his prison sentence.” Read full article here.

The MDMA in the juice bottle and the Brazilian cocaine: Auckland drug runner jailed for cartel role

The MDMA in the juice bottle and the Brazilian cocaine: Auckland drug runner jailed for cartel role

A former Auckland drug runner who served as a minion in one of New Zealand’s largest ever syndicates has been sentenced to a shade under a decade in prison. Matt Goodwin, said his client had been seduced into the sprawling and sophisticated syndicate amid financial difficulties, cultural pressure and personal tragedy with the death of his grandfather, his “mainstay of support”. Read full article here.

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