Daniel Rikiti has admitted a charge of dangerous driving causing Richard Martin's death. Photo / Kelly Makiha
CCTV footage played in open court showing the moment Richard Martin was struck by a car has shown the “stark reality” of what happened that fatal night in Rotorua.
The driver, Daniel Rikiti, didn’t brake, didn’t swerve and didn’t slow down, even after the point of impact when Martin’s body flipped in the air and tumbled down Arawa St.
Why Rikiti didn’t see Martin step out to cross the road in the early hours of September 17, 2022 was the subject of a dispute of facts hearing in the High Court at Rotorua on Tuesday.
Judge Paul Geoghegan said Martin’s death was “completely needless”.
“He was there to be seen and he should have been seen.”
The case has been before the court several times in nearly three years.
Rikiti originally denied a charge of reckless driving causing Martin’s death but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of dangerous driving causing death on the day of his trial on October 1 last year.
In March this year, Judge Geoghegan sentenced Rikiti to three years’ jail but his lawyer, Tim Braithwaite, appealed.
The appeal was heard in the High Court before Justice Michael Robinson in May, but the sentence was quashed because a significant letter written by Rikiti explaining his actions hadn’t been received by the judge or the court.
Justice Robinson ordered a dispute of facts hearing.
Martin was struck about 2am after a night out with friends and his fiancee, Tanya Anderson.
Anderson had crossed the road first, with Martin following a few metres behind, when he was struck.
The 59-year-old died from injuries 13 days later.
Rikiti said during evidence on Tuesday he and his partner were homeless and living in his car at the time.
He said his partner suffered from mental health issues.
They had a dispute earlier in the night and she smashed Rikiti’s windscreen with a golf club. Rikiti called police.
The car had been pink-stickered by police five days earlier for an already cracked windscreen and a tyre issue.
Police took Rikiti’s partner into custody and issued Rikiti with a Police Safety Order, which prevented him from seeing her for three days.
Constable Shona Wing said in her evidence on Tuesday that when they attended, Rikiti appeared aggressive and hostile and she could smell high levels of alcohol on him.
Rikiti drove to the CBD about 2am looking for his partner because he was worried about her.
He said in his evidence there had been similar situations and police either took her to the police station or the hospital’s mental health ward.
He said he had been made to feel like a criminal.
“I am not a criminal driving around running people over.”
Before the CCTV footage was played, Judge Geoghegan offered those in the public gallery the chance to leave the court, noting the contents of the footage were distressing.
They chose to stay and some family members cried and hugged.
“That CCTV footage sets out the stark reality of events of 17 September 2022 which resulted in Mr Martin’s completely needless death,” Judge Geoghegan said.
He ruled Rikiti was travelling at 55km/h – just above the limit of 50km/h – and couldn’t see Martin because of the damage to his windscreen, despite Rikiti’s assertions that was not a factor.
Rikiti also asserted in his letter he was distracted by a car behind him and from looking around at the footpaths for his partner.
But Judge Geoghegan said distraction was not a significant contributing factor, although he could not completely exclude the possibility.
He ruled the damaged windscreen and speed were the significant contributing factors. He noted Rikiti was breath-tested but gave a reading of 200 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, under the legal limit.
Judge Geoghegan said the smashed windscreen prevented reasonable visibility of hazards, particularly to Rikiti’s left, and his speed, although not excessive, prevented evasive action that might have resulted in Martin’s survival had he been seen earlier.
Judge Geoghegan said Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy raised a number of inconsistencies in Rikiti’s evidence and her cross-examination “completely undermined” Rikiti’s version of events, which was outlined in his letter.
The inconsistencies included CCTV footage proving there was no car directly behind Rikiti and admissions he was looking ahead while driving and not at the footpaths.
McConachy said she would file submissions that Rikiti’s 10% guilty plea discount should be removed, given the dispute of facts hearing was similar to a trial and had not spared the cost to the state or the family from hearing and seeing distressing evidence.
Braithwaite indicated he would appeal any sentence that didn’t offer leave to apply for home detention and would file submissions, including affidavits to say Rikiti was the sole carer of his child.
Rikiti was remanded on bail to be resentenced on August 29.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.