Prosecutions possible in Millane case

Fears publication of accused’s name has already compromised a potential trial

Prosecutions have not been ruled out for those continuing to name the man accused of Grace Millane’s murder, with the Solicitor-General and police monitoring the ongoing breaches.

There are also fears in the legal community the continuous publication of the 26-year-old’s name and details have already compromised a potential trial.

The latest example of a breach occurred when Google sent its “what’s trending in New Zealand” mass email to New Zealand subscribers naming the accused.

The email also said there had been more than 100,000 searches on its search engine of the man’s name.

Google is not the only internet behemoth allowing her murder accused’s name to be published though, with social media platforms Twitter and Facebook also disseminating breaches.

The defendant had applied for interim name suppression when he appeared in the Auckland District Court for his first appearance on Monday.

Despite Judge Evangelos Thomas refusing to grant the application, the man’s lawyer, Ian Brookie, indicated he would appeal the decision to the High Court — invoking an automatic 20-working-day suppression order.

However, since then there have been breaches by overseas media, hundreds of social media users and Google.

A spokeswoman for the SolicitorGeneral’s office said it prosecutes contempt of court but in cases of name suppression breaches the police would prosecute.

A police spokesperson said police are “continuing to monitor the situation regarding breaches of suppression orders in New Zealand”.

“At this stage, we are not aware of anyone being charged in relation to a breach of suppression order,” they said.

Commenting on the Google mishap, Justice Minister Andrew Little told the Herald if the email was traced to any of its New Zealand infrastructure the Silicon Valley-based company could be prosecuted.

“Google has staff in New Zealand, I know because I’ve got Christmas cards from them,” Little said.

A Google spokesperson said the company didn’t know about Judge Thomas’ suppression order.

But they said the tech giant would comply with any court order it was made aware of.

“We respect New Zealand law and understand the concerns around what is clearly a sensitive case,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said its Google trends alerts are automatically generated by its algorithms. Concerns were also raised by New Zealand Bar Association vice-president Jonathan Eaton QC, who said the breaches are not only endangering a fair trial but potentially any future trial.

“The publicity about the accused undermines the prospect of finding an impartial jury,” he said.