R v Amani

[2020] NZHC 3383

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA TĀMAKI MAKAURAU ROHE

CRI-2019-004-3382

[2020] NZHC 3383

THE QUEEN

v

RON JUNIOR AMANI

Hearing:

17 December 2020

Appearances:

E Smith for Crown

M Pecotic for Defendant

Judgment:

17 December 2020

SUPPLEMENTARY SENTENCING REMARKS OF LANG J

Solicitors:

Crown Solicitor, Auckland

R v AMANI [2020] NZHC 3383 [17 December 2020]

[1]                  On 9 December 2020, I sentenced Mr Amani to six months community detention.1 I purported to impose the following conditions on that sentence:

(a)You are not to communicate in any way or associate with your co- offenders or the Comanchero Motorcycle Club without the prior written approval of a probation officer.

(b)You are to comply with all aspects of the electronically monitored component of your sentence.

(c)You are to attend and complete an appropriate programme to the satisfaction of a Probation Officer. The specific details of the appropriate programme shall be determined by a Probation Officer.

[2]                  The Crown has filed a memorandum advising that I did not have jurisdiction to impose these conditions. This flows from s 69E of the Sentencing Act 2002 (the Act) which sets out the conditions on which an offender will serve a sentence of community detention. That section does not contain a provision permitting the Court to impose additional conditions. That is to be contrasted with s 80C(1)(b) of the Act, which expressly permits the Court to impose special conditions when it sentences an offender to home detention. I therefore accept the Crown’s submission that I was not able to impose the conditions on Mr Amani as an adjunct to the sentence of community detention.

[3]                  I am satisfied, however, that the conditions are necessary both to minimise the risk of further offending and to assist in Mr Amani’s rehabilitation. Section 180 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 permits the Court to impose a new sentence where it has imposed a sentence that could not by law be imposed. In purporting to impose the conditions on the sentence of community detention I am satisfied that I passed a sentence that could one by law be imposed. It is therefore necessary to correct the sentence under s 180.

[4]                  The imposition of a sentence of supervision permits the Court to make special conditions of the type that I endeavoured to impose in relation to the sentence of home detention. I therefore impose the following new sentence on Mr Amani:

1      R v Amani [2020] NZHC 3260.

(a)I impose a sentence of six months supervision on the standard conditions and the special conditions set out above at [1].

(b)I reduce the sentence of community detention by one month to reflect the fact that Mr Amani will now be subject to additional reporting and supervision obligations. This means that the sentence of community detention is reduced by six months to five months.

Lang J