Now-former chair of Te Whatu Ora Rob Campbell is refusing to go quietly, tensions are high at Napier public meeting and Indonesian forces negotiating the Kiwi pilot held hostage to be released in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
A convicted murderer says a miscarriage of justice occurred at her trial and she is appealing her conviction and sentence.
Sandy Graham, 32, is also appealing the decision to lift suppression of evidence heard during the trial.
Graham was found guilty of murdering Dale Watene at the conclusion of an18-day trial ending in July last year.
Watene was killed at Graham’s house on April 16, 2020.
Police found his body buried in a shallow grave in the Longwood Forest near Otautau on May 18, 2020.
Sandy Graham stands in the dock during sentencing for her part in the murder of Dale Watene in the High Court at Invercargill last November. Photo / Karen Pasco
At Graham’s sentencing in the High Court at Invercargill on November 8 last year, Justice Gerald Nation sentenced her to life imprisonment with a 13-year non-parole period and referred to the killing as callous and merciless.
The Otago Daily Times has obtained from the Court of Appeal the notices of appeal filed on behalf of Graham by her counsel.
Brief details of both appeals are set out within the notices.
A “placeholder notice of appeal” outlines the grounds of Graham’s conviction and sentence appeal.
“A miscarriage of justice occurred at my trial.
Dale Watene was reported missing on April 16, 2020 and his body was found a month later in a shallow grave. Photo / Supplied
“I will particularise my grounds of appeal once my lawyer has reviewed the case.”
The appeal also says her sentence was manifestly excessive and therefore an error was made.
The suppression appeal relates to evidence of two trial witnesses. Their evidence was given interim suppression and at the trial’s conclusion the suppression order was lifted.
The notice of appeal states Justice Nation erred in fact and law in not giving the evidence final suppression.
“The court did not hear from counsel prior to releasing the judgement and did not supply reasons.”
As Graham’s lawyer appealed the decision to lift suppression in July last year, the evidence has never been reported.
Graham seeks a final suppression of this evidence.
