Gisborne Courthouse
A MAN'S claim that his partner tried to run him down with her car was unable to be proved after police evidence was ruled inadmissible.
Kayla Marie Koia, 29, was acquitted of a charge of assault with a weapon (the car) by Judge Warren Cathcart after a short hearing in Gisborne District Court.
The identification evidence of an independent witness — the only eye witness — was ruled inadmissible after Judge Cathcart found police were too slow to prepare and show her a photomontage containing Koia’s image.
Although a statement was taken from the woman the day of the incident, she was not shown the montage until two weeks later — contrary to the requirements of the Evidence Act, which specified such identification material must be presented to witnesses as soon as practicably possible.
Police were tardyAn officer in charge of the case admitted police were tardy. There had been several other domestic incidents that day – all of which also required police attention.
Neither was she overly familiar with the montage process, having only worked on one other case where one was needed.
Before the judge ruled, the witness gave evidence in court. She said she saw a woman drive a vehicle off Ormond Road on to the kerb and at a man who was trying to scramble away.
The man looked in fear for his safety and the woman looked irate.
The witness went inside to call police but was distracted by her workplace alarm. During that time the man walked off and the woman drove ahead of him but in the same direction.
A short while later in her car on her way home, the witness saw the female driver again. This time she appeared to be trying to hide her vehicle in the grounds of a business from the oncoming man.
The witness said she stopped her car about a block away and called police, as she was fearful the woman intended to try to run the man down again.
She kept the situation under observation in her rear view mirror for about 10 minutes. She was confident the person she identified in the montage was the defendant Koia.
Identification not reliableJudge Cathcart said given the circumstances, the identification could not be relied upon. The witness had never previously seen Koia and in court gave only a generic description of the woman she saw. Police had shown her the montage too late.
The officer in charge of the case, who also gave evidence, said despite Koia’s claim of not knowing a car fitting that description, a very similar one had been registered to her at the time.
Too many Gisborne people were obstructing police — ironic when many of those same people might one day need police help themselves, Judge Warren Cathcart said.
John Junior Kora, 42, pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction in relation to an incident in which his abusive and unruly behaviour exacerbated a domestic dispute where police were already feeling outnumbered, the court heard.
In exchange for his plea, police offered no evidence on a charge of disorderly behaviour, which was withdrawn.
Kora received 60 hours community work. Two co-defendants, a man and woman who were similarly charged, had previously received a similar slightly lesser work sentence, the court heard.
Counsel Nicola Wright said Kora’s actions were prompted by his brother-in-law, who had stitches in his wrist at the time, being handcuffed.
There were a lot of people present on the street during the incident and from a police perspective things were getting out of control.
Judge Cathcart told Kora while he might have felt genuinely motivated to intervene, his actions constituted a criminal offence. It was the police’s responsibility to respond to domestic incidents — not his.
Conduct like Kora’s was commonplace in Gisborne and would not be tolerated by the court.
Such behaviour only added to the problems.