Lawyer fined, disqualified for drink driving

THE WANGANUI lawyer convicted of driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit was yesterday fined $850 and disqualified from driving for six months.
Cristen Peter Brosnahan, 54, had been convicted by Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson on September 24, after a defended hearing where he disputed the charge on grounds his Bill of Rights was breached and police evidence was inadmissible.
Brosnahan was stopped by police seven miles from Kai Iwi Tavern on February 22, with a blood alcohol count of 171 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood.
At his sentencing yesterday, Brosnahan stood in the dock in the Wanganui District Court as Judge Oke Blaikie sentenced him to the fine and disqualification and ordered him to pay an additional $78 for witness expenses and $130 court costs.
Prior to that, defence counsel Roger Crowley asked the judge not to give Brosnahan a longer disqualification because the charge had been defended.
The issue of whether his right to contact a lawyer had been breached was an important and significant point of law, he said.
Brosnahan had been driving for 39 years and had no prior convictions or accidents.
He also lived in the country and travelled long distances each week in the course of his work and would have trouble getting in and out of town, he said.
Mr Crowley also asked that Brosnahan not be ordered to pay witness costs because the medical officer concerned was a Crown witness.
However, police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Colin McGillivray told the Judge Brosnahan ought to receive a longer-than-mandatory disqualification to set an example and because his blood alcohol reading was so high.
"It was not a low level, and there was evidence in the report of Mr Brosnahan's driving being affected," he said.
Judge Blaikie said in the four years he had presided at the court, Brosnahan had appeared before him from time to time, and it was with "some regret" that he had to sentence him.
Brosnahan had regularly demonstrated his skills as a senior barrister and in the discharge of his duties in the court, he said.
"But as you certainly know, Mr Brosnahan, people of prominence are not above the law. Mr Brosnahan, please make sure this is your last appearance in the dock at this court," Judge Blaikie said.
Mr Crowley then asked the judge for a stay in Brosnahan's sentence, on grounds that he intended to appeal his conviction, a move that Mr McGillivray said left him "somewhat dismayed", as the application had not been made earlier.
Judge Blaikie granted a stay in Brosnahan's sentence for a period of eight weeks, to be reviewed by the court registrar after that time.