Eight warrants for his arrest were issued in that time, although Harris had turned up to court late on two of those occasions, including once when he entered not-guilty pleas and had planned to defend them on the grounds of disputed identification.
His appearance today followed Judge Tony Zohrab finding Harris guilty earlier this month for the offending in December 2021, despite Harris not being involved in his own trial because he didn’t turn up to court.
“That’s a long time to not go anywhere, to say the least,” the police told NZME outside court.
In what was likely a rare move, but allowed by law in certain circumstances, Judge Zohrab told the Nelson District Court on September 1 that he was left with little option but to go ahead without Harris during a defended hearing.
A University of Auckland Associate Professor of Law, Scott Optican, told NZME at the time that the lack of case law on the subject suggested it was not a common occurrence.
Harris, with whom police described as having a “working relationship” because of the frequency of contact, was found guilty and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Defence lawyer Rosa Brooke, who opposed proceeding due to the risk of an unfair or unjust outcome, had told the court her client’s whereabouts were unknown.
Judge Zohrab said the courts were always reluctant to proceed in the absence of a defendant but after setting out the relevant law that allowed it, it was his view that the matter needed to go ahead in the interests of justice.
The relevant law in this case included that the driving while disqualified charge, aggravated by it being a repeat offence, was a Category 1 offence.
Harris, a disqualified driver, was seen by the police late on the night of December 1, 2021, with his brother, a forbidden driver, beside a black car near a petrol station in the Nelson suburb of Tahunanui.
A police witness at the hearing, Detective Constable Nathan Madden, said he was working the night shift with a colleague, when just before midnight he noticed two men standing near the back of a car.
He recognsied both, one of whom he said was Jade Harris who was distinctive for the tattoos on his lower eyelid.
The police waited, which was when they saw the two men in the vehicle driving toward them, with Jade Harris behind the wheel, Madden said.
The police did a U-turn and turned on their lights and siren, but the pair drove off.
A second police witness, Constable Chor-Loon Soong, said it wasn’t possible the pair didn’t notice the patrol car.
In finding the charges proven, Judge Zohrab said in such cases there was always the chance of mistaken identity, but what was clear was Madden’s close connection with Harris and his family, leading him to conclude he was unlikely to have been mistaken.
Harris was remanded on bail for sentencing on all matters, on January 11 next year.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
