Rare mercy by judge in sentencing, say experts
A Whanganui woman who has avoided a life prison sentence for murdering her teenage granddaughter has benefited from a rare mercy from the courts, experts say.
Lorraine Smith, 59, was yesterday sentenced to 12 years in prison with a minimum period of six years after she strangled 13-year-old Kalis Manaia Smith with a tie.
People convicted of murder normally receive a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of at least 10 years, but in cases where the court deems it “manifestly unjust” the defendant can receive a finite sentence instead.
A life sentence does not mean the person will spend the rest of their life in prison, but that, after parole, they could be recalled to prison at any time.
In yesterday’s sentencing in the High Court at Wellington, Justice Francis Cooke said he believed it would be manifestly unjust for Smith to get a life sentence, saying she had given her life to care for others at the expense of her own mental health.
On the day of the murder Smith had been fighting with Kalis, who she cared for with other grandchildren and her severely disabled adult son.
Smith sat hunched over in the dock and sobbed throughout as the judge described the killing.
Justice Cooke spoke of Smith’s difficult life, including abuse from an
When a person’s convicted of murder there’s a presumption that they will receive a life sentence.
Warren Brookbanks AUT law professor
early age and suicide attempts before the birth of her first child.
She suffered from severe mental health issues and “carer burnout”.
Auckland University of Technology law professor Warren Brookbanks said it was “pretty rare” for people convicted of murder to escape a life sentence. “The Sentencing Act makes it clear that when a person’s convicted of murder there’s a presumption that they will receive a life sentence.”
But the court did have discretion to put aside this presumption.
Judges might consider it manifestly unjust in cases where a relatively young person with no criminal history had offended, where someone was vulnerable due to a disability but was still found legally sane at the time of the offending, or in cases where the defendant was extremely old or had a major substance addiction.
University of Auckland professor of criminal law Julia Tolmie said she knew of two specific cases where battered women who killed abusive partners avoided life sentences.
These were cases where women had histories of being “really badly beaten’ by the person they killed, but were unable to draw on self defence as an argument.
Tolmie said “euthanasia” cases might also be considered.