WANGANUI defence lawyer Cristen Peter Brosnahan has lost his appeal against a conviction for drink driving.
In October, Brosnahan was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $850, after he was convicted in the Wanganui District Court for driving with a blood alcohol count more than twice the legal limit.
The
sentence, which was stayed pending an appeal, took effect immediately after the release of the decision on Thursday.
Brosnahan was convicted of drink driving on September 24, after disputing the charge on the grounds of a Bill of Rights breach and that police evidence was "inadmissible".
On December 6, defence counsel Lance Rowe appealed the conviction, arguing that Brosnahan had lost the chance to gain important advice from his lawyer when police did not allow him to make a second call, and that this had breached his rights.
However, in the February 14 decision, High Court Justice Mark Cooper dismissed the appeal, concluding that Brosnahan's rights were not breached.
In the written decision, Justice Cooper considered Brosnahan's reasons for wanting to consult to the lawyer a second time at the same stage of the EBA process.
He disagreed that Brosnahan's rights would be infringed by not consulting his lawyer regarding a wrongly-worded EBA request, as this mistake had been immediately corrected.
He also dismissed the argument that he wished to seek advice on the risk of immediate disqualification, as Brosnahan had never mentioned this to police.
"I consider that the police were entitled to take the view that they had properly afforded him his rights," he writes.
"In the event, the appellant effectively chose not to undergo the evidential breath test with the consequence that any risk that he might be immediately disqualified was removed."
Justice Cooper disagreed that a suspect should have the right to repeatedly request further consultation with lawyers at the same stage of EBA procedures.
Brosnahan would not comment to the Wanganui Chronicle about the appeal last night.
