Rapist Scott Thompson appeals conviction saying he wasn’t given medication during his jury trial

The Court of Appeal is being asked to decide if a defendant not receiving his medication during a jury trial means it was unfair.

A man who raped a woman just hours after beating her in a car is appealing his conviction, claiming he wasn’t receiving his medication at his trial.

Scott Thompson wants the Court of Appeal to overturn his conviction and sentence, saying the fact he wasn’t receiving the drugs he’d been prescribed for his depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder during his original trial, meant it was unfair.

In 2019 Thompson picked the victim up from her work in central Wellington. The car ride turned violent and he lashed out at her, grabbing her hair and punching her in the face four times. Later that night he raped her while she was in the shower.

Thompson went before a jury in October 2021 and was sentenced in April 2022 to preventive detention with a minimum of seven years.

Now he’s claimed that without his medication his mental health deteriorated, affecting both the evidence he gave and his cross-examination at his district court trial.

Lawyers from his original trial today described his evidence then as a “trainwreck” and said his demeanour was “obnoxious and argumentative” and he completely fell apart while he was giving it, which is not what they had expected.

Justices Collins, Osborne and Churchman are being asked to compare Thompson’s demeanour at that trial with the evidence he gave at today’s appeal - when he is medicated. Today’s hearing was moved from the Court of Appeal to the adjacent High Court building in Wellington so Thompson could give evidence.

His lawyer Nicolette Levy KC said her client gave credible and controlled evidence today, even when he was cross-examined by the Crown.

She said Thompson’s own description of events; “I didn’t know until I was in the problem, I didn’t know until it affected me” he wasn’t aware of the impact that the lack of medication would have on him until he got into the witness box.

She said all the evidence was her client was “crying out for his medication”.

She said the failure to get his medication - which was beyond his control - was the difference between being able to raise a doubt in the jury’s mind and not being able to do so.

But the Crown, represented by Ian Murray, said medical notes from Rimutaka Prison show only two occasions during that trial week when Thompson didn’t receive his medication.

Several nurses from the prison gave evidence by audio link today, although the court had to adjourn a number of times because of difficulties with technology between the court and the prison.

They told the court that the records provided were accurate and denied suggestions from Levy that the records could have shown Thompson received his medication when he hadn’t. Although, many also said they couldn’t remember because of the passage of time.

The medical evidence presented didn’t explain the impact missing medication would have had on him.

Murray told the court it beggared belief that Thompson waited for the last day of the trial when the jury began its deliberations before alerting his counsel, he hadn’t been receiving his medication.

Earlier in cross-examination, Thompson confirmed his affidavit said he understood the importance of taking his medication and took it daily, as it was prescribed.

But Murray pointed to prison records which showed he’d repeatedly refused to take his medication - something Thompson said he only did after the trial.

Murray said Thompson also changed his evidence during cross-examination, initially saying he’d told his lawyer after he gave evidence, but then saying he’d told one of them beforehand - which they vehemently denied.

Murray told the court Thompson had exaggerated the number of times he hadn’t received them.

The court reserved its decision.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media advisor at the Ministry of Justice.