Novel legal point halts woman’s court martial
A court martial has come to a premature end for a woman serving in the New Zealand Defence Force charged with indecent assault and using and offering to supply the drug MDMA.
Nicole Rene Leger, 33, who holds the rank of leading aircraftman in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, pleaded not guilty when the court martial began at Trentham Military Camp, Upper Hutt, yesterday.
But after the lunch break, Chief Judge of the Court Martial Kevin Riordan said a legal issue to do with admissibility of evidence was going to be appealed. It was a point that appeared not to have arisen before in military law at least in New Zealand. It was appropriate to adjourn the court martial to a date yet to be set, he said.
Earlier, the court was told the charges all related to the same day, June 20 last year, when Leger was accused of using and offering to supply the class B drug MDMA ecstasy to a female comrade, indecently assaulting her, or alternatively assaulting her.
Leger’s lawyer, Michael Bott, said it was a reasonable possibility that her drink was spiked with ecstasy without her knowledge, and she should not be held criminally responsible for the ‘‘train wreck’’ that followed. Prosecutor Lieutenant Ty Hart said the incidents happened at a party at Leger’s new flat in Stokes Valley. The complainant was a guest and the sober driver for other guests, but became tired and asked to lie down in Leger’s bedroom.
It’s alleged Leger twice went into the room, once leaning close enough for the woman to feel her breath, and the second time lying on the complainant, touching her face and saying ‘‘your lips’’.
The complainant thought Leger was going to kiss her and pushed her away, saying she would kill Leger if she did it again, Hart said.
Hart said Leger told people at the party that she was ‘‘high’’ and she had taken MDMA.
The complainant thought Leger was intoxicated but did not see Leger with drugs. Leger acted sexually towards several people, she said.
Chief Judge Riordan sat with three military members, two women and one man.