Man loses murder conviction appeal
An Invercargill man convicted of the murder of Jack McAllister in 2017 has lost an appeal against his conviction.
McAllister, 19, died after being stabbed 14 times with a hunting knife near ILT Stadium Southland on June 7, 2017.
Seven young people were charged with his murder.
Two pleaded guilty before trial [principal offender Brayden Whiting-Roff and a female], one was found guilty of murder at trial [Christopher Brown] and one was found guilty of manslaughter at trial [Laura Scheepers], with three being found not guilty.
Brown, 19 at the time, was found guilty after the Crown alleged he was one of the people who agreed to a serious assault on McAllister, knowing death was a probable consequence, and that he encouraged or assisted Whiting-Roff to murder McAllister.
Brown’s lawyer Fiona-Guy Kidd had argued during the trial that he had gone to the ILT Stadium Southland with the intention of talking to his cousin Jack McAllister about his alleged sexual offending, and maybe punching him, but murder was never the plan.
She rejected the Crown assertion that Brown had kicked a running McAllister to stop him escaping, saying he did so to to stop from getting bowled over.
Among Brown’s arguments to the Court of Appeal was the trial judge had declined to warn the jury that the evidence of the female witness, who had earlier admitted to McAllister’s murder, may be unreliable.
He argued she had recanted her evidence by stating in a letter to Brown from prison that she told lies at the trial.
However, the Court of Appeal decision said the witness had confirmed the contents of her affidavit at the appeal hearing and was cross-examined on it.
‘‘We are satisfied [she] has not, in truth, recanted any of the evidence she gave at trial.’’
Though she stated she lied at trial in the letter to Brown, she did not specify which evidence was false.
‘‘We accept her explanation for making the statements in her letter to Mr Brown – she felt responsible for the events that unfolded and wished to assist Mr Brown with his conviction appeal,’’ the Court of Appeal decision says.
‘‘Even if [her] letter could be construed as a recantation, we are satisfied the recantation is untrue.’’
Brown’s application to adduce further evidence on appeal was granted, but his appeal against conviction was dismissed.
Brown has also appealed against his sentence – life imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years – but that appeal will be heard separately.
‘‘We accept her explanation for making the statements in her letter to Mr Brown – she felt responsible for the events that unfolded and wished to assist Mr Brown with his conviction appeal.’’ Court of Appeal