News in Brief

Letter to the Editor
Kimi Katoa appeal to Privy Council

Dear Editor,
Regarding the article by Rosie Manins in the Cook Islands News on Friday 2nd December entitled “Buck stops with Appeal Court” it is obvious as she wasn’t in Court that all the information obtained regarding Kimi Katoa’s appeal to the Privy Council was furnished from either Court staff or Crown Law and in respect of which I would like to clarify some points so as to bring some balance to her article.
“(1) “...the prosecution had to consider whether to proceed despite having crucial evidence disclosed in time” - Lead counsel for Crown Law, Catherine Evans, had 15 months to obtain this “crucial evidence” which she only attempted to get last minute when faced with a Defence application for discharge. They were given notice on the Thursday before the trial of this application and filed an affidavit in response stating that the evidence would be ready come Monday; the morning of the trial. This was not ready and would not have been available in any case as a 28 day provision in the Misuse of Drugs Act had been overlooked by Ms Evans. The result was an entire Courtroom of diligent Cook Islanders needlessly made themselves available for jury duty as well as five Crown witnesses including an expert that had been flown over to Rarotonga from New Zealand at the taxpayer’s expense. In addition to these expenses the taxpayer had to pay a further $1,000.00 in costs for Ms Evans late decision to withdraw, a decision which could have been made on the Thursday which would have avoided all these expenses.
(2) The Appeal to the Privy Council hearing was set down for two hours in contradiction to Rosie’s assertion it was set down for an entire day.
(3) The taxpayer must now foot another bill for expenses of Crown witnesses including the same expert (I assume) coming to Rarotonga for the second time as the Crown had failed in its first attempt.
(4) In my opinion if Ms Evans had looked at her rules carefully she could have avoided encumbering the taxpayer with those expenses from the first trial. She had notice but continued and only made the decision to withdraw once it was obvious she was putting her entire case in jeopardy. Justice Grice looked at her evidence and described it as “pretty skinny” prompting her to withdraw.
(5) “Following a bit of a talking to...” the Court actually provided some helpful guidance in respect of the new trial as a key witness died between the High Court trial and the Court of Appeal application and simply suggested that Mr Katoa would have to be convicted first before the Privy Council would rule on the matter.
(6) The firm which employs me leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the protection of our client’s legal rights. In future if Rosie wishes to make comments about the cases we are involved in we suggest she ascertains our views in addition to any others so she can provide a balanced report.
Kind Regards
Robert Samuel
Norman George & Associates

Crane accident on Avatiu wharf
On Friday morning a crane working on the Kwai suffered a mishap. Investigations into the cause of the accident are still being conducted.

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