Ruatoria man’s trial aborted

Press, 26 September 1989, Page 34

Ruatoria man’s trial aborted

PA Gisborne The jury trial of a Ruatoria man, in the District Court in Gisborne, has been aborted by Judge Kearney because of a newspaper article. Dick James Maxwell, aged 29, who describes himself as a peacemaker, faced a charge of common assault. Judge Kearney said he took it upon himself to abort the trial, not because Maxwell might have thought the jury had a biased opinion, but because they might have been affected by the material in the article. The charge was not dismissed so the Crown had the opportunity of seeking a new trial. Judge Kearney said if the writer of the story knew the trial was on, then the story was contemptuous in the extreme and an attack on the justice which the paper sought to spread to readers. He said the article also

contained material about witnesses who were to appear. Judge Kearney told the jury that an accused’s previous criminal convictions were not permitted to be known to them, except if there were special features of the case. “I had reason to believe that there was prejudice against the accused.” Judge Kearney said people had the right to apply ■to have their case heard outside the district. He said Maxwell had not applied to have his trial heard outside the Gisborne area, but said if the application was made he would almost certainly have granted it. “He didn’t seek it. He was prepared to stand and be judged by the people in this district — even though he knew it was almost certain they would know a great deal about him and newspaper comments about him.”