Supreme Court case information

Listed below are the substantive Supreme Court cases for the year along with appeals still to be determined or cases awaiting hearing. 

Information giving an overview of the case is included along with media releases and links to judgments being appealed when available.

All 2024 - 2014 Supreme Court cases dismissed or deemed to be dismissed where a notice of abandonment was received can be found here.

Transcripts for cases heard before the Supreme Court are included provided they are not suppressed. Transcripts from pre-trial hearings are not published until the final disposition of trial. These are unedited transcripts and they are not a formal record of the Court’s proceedings. The Ministry of Justice does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any material and recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use.

20 March 2026

Case information summary 2025 (as at 20 March 2026) –  Cases where leave granted (PDF, 88 KB)
Case information summary 2025 (as at 20 March 2026)  – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 123 KB) 

All years

Case name
Mahana Makarini Edmonds v The Queen
Case number
SC 57/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Party offences – Section 66(2) of the Crimes Act 1961 – Appellant was convicted of manslaughter after Mr Pahau, one of his associates, killed Mr Niwa through a single stab wound inflicted by a knife - Whether the jury must be directed that knowledge of the possession of the particular type of weapon used in the commission of the principal offence is required under s 66(2).  [2011] NZCA 147  CA 588/2010
Result
A Leave to appeal is granted.
B The approved ground of appeal is whether the trial Judge should have directed the jury that they could not convict the appellant unless satisfied that he knew the principal offender was carrying a knife.
15 August 2011
________________________
Appeal dismissed.
20 December 2011
Transcripts
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
EDMONDS v R SC 57/2011 [15 August 2011] (PDF, 7 KB)
Substantive judgment
EDMONDS v R SC 57/2011 [20 December 2011] (PDF, 201 KB)
Case name
Warren Bruce Fenemor v The Queen
Case number
SC 60/2011
Summary
Criminal – Admissibility of propensity evidence –That some items of evidence admitted were inadmissible propensity evidence – That the trial Judge’s directions on the use of that evidence were inadequate – That the trial Judge erred in preventing the appellant from demonstrating his account of the incident.[2011] NZCA 206  CA 457/2010
Result
The application for leave to appeal is granted in part. The approved ground is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to hold, following R v Degnan that propensity evidence may be led by the Crown despite that evidence having previously been led at a trial which resulted in an acquittal.
We refuse leave to appeal on the other proposed grounds as they do not, in our view, meet the statutory criteria.
23 August 2011
_________________
Appeal dismissed.
21 October 2011
Media Releases
Substantive judgment
sc 60 2011 warren bruce fenemor v the queen (PDF, 130 KB)
Transcript
Hearing date : 4 October 2011
Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath, William Young JJ.
Case name
Augustus  Ah-Chong v The Queen
Case number
SC 65/2011
Summary
Criminal – Party liability – That the trial Judge’s directions on s 66(2) of the Crimes Act 1961 were inadequate – Trial process – That the process by which the jury delivered its verdicts was unsafe.[2011] NZCA 181   CA 75/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
11 November 2011.
Case name
Kunal Nand Reddy v The Queen
Case number
SC 66/2011
Summary
Criminal – Evidence of good character – That failure of trial counsel to adduce evidence of the appellant’s good character caused a miscarriage of justice – Trial process – That the trial Judge’ s directions were insufficiently clear – That the process by which the jury delivered its verdicts was unsafe – Accessory after the fact – That the Court of Appeal erred in its interpretation of s 71(1) of the Crimes Act 1961.[2011] NZCA 181   CA 75/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
11 November 2011.
Case name
M v The Queen
Case number
SC 68/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Sexual Offences – Evidence Act 2006 – Whether Court of Appeal erred in upholding admission at trial of expert evidence relating to “counterintuitive” evidence given by child abuse victims– Whether expert evidence met “substantially helpful” test under s 25 Evidence Act – Whether linking by prosecutor in closing address of expert evidence with circumstances of particular complainant led to unfair trial where no direction given to jury on proper use of expert evidence.[2011] NZCA 191   CA 23/2009
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
8 November 2011.
Case name
Marcell Sydney Geros v The Queen
Case number
SC 77/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Conviction – Whether defence counsel advice to plead guilty caused a miscarriage of justice – Whether defence counsel prevented relevant evidence being adduced – Sentencing – Whether the sentence was manifestly excessive – Application for bail to prepare the case.[2011] NZCA 122  CA 321/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
16 September 2011.
Case name
Clayton Robert Weatherston v The Queen
Case number
SC 81/2011
Summary
Criminal – Appeal against conviction for murder – Impact of media statements on fair trial rights of applicant – whether the applicant’ s trial was rendered unfair as a consequence of media statements made during the trial – whether the directions of the trial Judge to the jury were sufficient to overcome the prejudice resulting from the media coverage – whether the Court of Appeal erred in requiring the applicant to demonstrate that a juror may have seen or read the coverage in issue – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its assessment of the trial Judge’s post-trial conference address – Evidence Act 2006, s 92 – whether the Crown was obliged to put to the applicant on cross-examination the divergence of his evidence of events by comparison with that of other witnesses, if it intended to take issue with his version – Evidence Act 2006, ss 37 and 38 – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding ss 37 and 38 did not apply to the Crown’s cross-examination of the applicant which aimed to establish his propensity to lie – Admission of photographs of victim’s wounds – whether the Court of Appeal erred in admitting photographs of stab wounds when the purpose for which that evidence was tendered could have been met by computer graphic reconstructions and diagrams[2011] NZCA 276   CA 648/2009
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
13 September 2011
Case name
Pawel Marian Misiuk v The Queen
Case number
SC 83/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Bail Act 2000 – Defendant convicted on various charges and sentenced to imprisonment of four years and one month – Bail denied by High Court and Court of Appeal pending appeal against conviction and sentence – Whether applicant should be granted bail – Whether Court of Appeal Judge should not have sat on bail hearing because of misconduct alleged by applicant in related hearing – Whether Court of Appeal Judge failed to consider relevant evidence.[2011] NZCA 323    CA 397/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
13 September  2011.
Case name
Shannon Ian Clifford v The Queen
Case number
SC 89/2011
Summary
Criminal – Sentence – Increase of sentence – Sentencing guideline judgments – Sentencing Act 2002, s 9(3) – Whether Court of Appeal, in assessing appellant’s sentence, appropriately increased it from 5 to 7 years after considering courts’ approach to sentencing in light of the Supreme Court’s Hessell decision – Whether Court of Appeal in affirming s 9(3)’s prohibition on treating intoxication as mitigating has effectively held that lack of mens rea, if induced by voluntary consumption of intoxicants, can never be a mitigating factor; and whether this is correct in principle – Status of lack of mens rea partially induced by intoxicants – Status of guideline judgments in the wake of Supreme Court’s decision in Hessell  [2011] NZCA 360 CA 88/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
18 October 2011
Case name
Richard Horton McKay v The Queen
Case number
SC 90/2011
Summary
Criminal – Fitness to stand trial – Whether the District Court’ s deviation from the procedure set out in Part 2, Subpart 1 of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003 resulted in a miscarriage of justice or rendered the trial a nullity under s 385(1) of the Crimes Act 1961 – Extension of time to apply for leave to appeal sought.[2009] NZCA 378 CA 475/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
6 October 2011.
Page 80 of 111