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DISMISSAL OF CHARGES – BREACH OF PROTECTION ORDER

Mar 23, 2023

AM was charged with two charges of breaching a protection order when she attended her ex-partner’s house on the evening before New Zealand’s first Level 4 Lockdown in March 2020. 

AM pleaded not guilty as she had a reasonable excuse to attend the address; to check on the welfare of her child and make co-parenting arrangements with her ex-partner for the Lockdown period.

Ciara successfully argued that the charges should be dismissed pursuant so s 147 of the Criminal Procedure Act – it was in the interests of justice for the matter to end due to the passage of time as well as AM and her ex-partner having a constructive co-parenting relationship. Charges dismissed.

SEXUAL VIOLATION JURY TRIAL – R v RB

Mar 1, 2023

Matt and Ciara appeared in Auckland District Court in a 2-week jury trial for a client sports coach charged with historic sexual abuse allegations made by two past sportswomen in New Zealand and abroad. The first complainant alleged she was indecently assaulted when she was 15 years old, below the age of consent. The second complainant alleged that when she was aged between around 16 and 21 years old, she was raped on four occasions when our client was controlling every aspect of her life when hired by her family as fulltime coach. 

Our client accepted he had relationships with both women which were consensual, but they had opportunities to complain about the alleged abuse. In countering the second complainant it was argued there were extensive photos, text messages and iPhone messages which showed they were romantically involved and they had travelled worldwide together for the complainant to play in tournaments.  

Initially our client was charged with 10 charges and following trial, he was found guilty of five.

SEXUAL VIOLATION JURY TRIAL – R v AL

Jan 31, 2023

Conducting a second retrial, our client was charged with sexual offending against his ex-wife and the burglary of her home. 

The matter had a lengthy history. With different counsel at the first trial, the jury returned hung verdicts and the second jury returned guilty verdicts. However, Matt and Ciara successfully appealed that outcome to the Court of Appeal on the basis of trial-counsel error, the appeal was successful and it was sent back to the District Court for retrial. 

At the retrial, our client gave evidence on his version of events and was acquitted of six of the nine charges faced.

EM BAIL AND HOME DETENTION

Jun 19, 2022

KP plead guilty to 11 charges, with the most serious being injuring with intent to injure and burglary. KP accepted a sentence indication of 3.5 years imprisonment. However, prior to sentencing KP removed his EM Bail bracelet, absconded and was later re-arrested and remanded in custody. This was a wakeup call for KP, accepting that he needed support with drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Ciara sought that KP be admitted to the Grace Foundation and filed an application for EM Bail, which was successful.

At sentencing, KP received discounts for his early guilty pleas, remorse and factors that were addressed in his cultural report pursuant to s 27 Sentencing Act. An end sentence of nine months home detention with judicial monitoring was imposed.

STAY OF PROCEEDINGS FILED

May 11, 2022

Matt and Ciara were prepared to start a 3 week jury retrial at Auckland District Court for LK charged with theft from her employer (x 3). The trial was adjourned as the Court had only allocated 2 weeks of hearing time. We have filed an application for a permanent stay of proceedings based on abuse of process, as 4 years has elapsed since LK was first charged and prejudice caused to her defence.

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

May 2, 2022

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.

DISCHARGE WITHOUT CONVICTION GRANTED

Apr 29, 2022

Matt successfully obtained a discharge without conviction for YK, who was originally charged with blackmail and dishonestly accessing a computer system at Auckland District Court.

The judge accepted the offending was at the lower end, expert reports showed she was remorseful and convictions would prevent her obtaining employment and future plans to travel overseas.

CHARGES DISMISSED

Apr 28, 2022

Ciara appeared at North Shore District Court for our client, BH who was charged with discharge and possession of a firearm.

The Police accepted there was insufficient evidence to obtain a conviction and sought to withdraw both charges pursuant to s 146 of the Criminal Procedure Act. This provision means the charges could be re-laid against our client in the future.

Ciara argued that BH is entitled to the uncertainty of outcome in the Court process and if the Police’s application was granted, the uncertainty of future disposition would be onerous and unjust.

Ciara convinced the Court that dismissal pursuant to s 147 was the appropriate provision, which is deemed an acquittal.

BAIL GRANTED

Apr 20, 2022

Ciara appeared at Court for a client faced with a new charge of strangulation and other violence-related charges.

The client, ZA was already on bail for violent charges and the Court was reluctant to re-admit the client to bail.

Ciara argued that due to the nature of the evidence presented by the Police and the client’s personal circumstances (including that he has full-time work), he should be readmitted to bail on more restrictive conditions.

 

The Court agreed and ZA was readmitted to bail.

APPEAL AGAINST PRETRIAL RULING ON SEARCH FILED

Mar 30, 2022

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

Jan 23, 2024

“… 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

Aug 15, 2023

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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