Drunk statement sees case dismissed

Allegations of domestic violence were dismissed after a judge ruled the complainant’s drunkenness cast doubt on the reliability of her police statement.

On Tuesday, Judge Chris Sygrove presided over the trial of a man who previously pleaded not guilty to charges of male assaults female and breaching a protection order. The accused is not being named for legal reasons.

The man was alleged to have hit his partner in the face after they argued during a party at a New Plymouth house on October 22, 2016.

In her evidence, the complainant told the New Plymouth District Court how she and her partner were drinking alcohol with a small group of people at a Penrith St address.

She consumed at least 12 cans of premixed bourbon and cola drinks before turning to home brewed alcohol, which she said she had never tried before.

She said she saw her partner in the lounge with another woman and it looked as though they were about to kiss each other.

She said they started to argue and the fight spilled out onto the road.

However when pressed for details about what happened next, the complainant said she couldn’t remember as she had been ‘‘off her face’’ on home brew.

When prosecutor Stephanie Simpkin showed the complainant photographs of her injury, a cut and bruised lip, she said she was not able to recall how it happened.

She also said she could not remember talking to a police officer about what happened.

In a statement to police, which was taken shortly after the alleged assault, it said the accused had hit the complainant after he accused her of cheating on him.

It also outlined how he threatened to use his contacts in the Black Power against her and that she was scared.

Under cross examination by defence lawyer Megan Boyd, the complainant repeated that she couldn’t remember much and did not recall being punched by her partner.

She told Boyd that when she woke up she had no idea how she had been injured, but when a friend commented about how drunk she had been, she thought she might have fallen over.

Constable Cassandra Power, who took the complainant’s statement, also gave evidence at the trial.

On the night of the call-out, Power described the accused as ‘‘very, very aggressive’’ and she feared he could assault other colleagues who were present.

She said the complainant was crying, sitting hunched over on the side of the road.

‘‘She told me that the defendant had been accusing her of sleeping around on him and he had hit her in the face.’’

When questioned by Boyd about the complainant’s suitability to give a statement after she had been drinking alcohol, Power said she had considered this but felt the woman was coherent and willing to talk.

Given the complainant’s inability to recall what happened, Simpkin sought to admit the police statement as evidence, which was opposed by Boyd.

Boyd argued the statement was not reliable due to the complainant’s level of intoxication, her emotional state at the time and that the statement was inconsistent with the evidence the complainant had given at the trial.

In response, Simpkin said the statement had been made to a police officer, so it was a reliable account but acknowledged if it was not admitted as evidence, the remainder of the case against the defendant would be insufficient to prove the charges.

Judge Sygrove ruled the statement would not be admitted into evidence due to what the complainant had said about how intoxicated she had been. He pointed to her statement of ‘‘I can’t remember what I said about anything to anyone’’ as the most pertinent.

He deemed the police statement to be unreliable and consequently dismissed the charges against the accused.