Judge exasperated by Clap graffiti case delays
After five postponements, the man charged with Invercargill’s “Clap’’ graffiti outbreak was still not ready to plead – so the judge did it for him.
To progress the case, Judge Duncan Harvey used his authority to direct that not guilty pleas be entered on behalf of the 32-year-old-man, who appeared in the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday.
Police had confirmed since his second appearance that an offer of diversion was on the table.
This is a police scheme that allows some offenders to take responsibility for their offending outside the court system by satisfying agreed conditions, in which case they escape conviction. But it requires them to indicate that they admit the charges.
The defendant had not entered pleas since he first appeared in August on nine charges of wilful damage or intentional damage, including one representing damage to 31 inner-city properties.
His case had been adjourned or rescheduled in September, October, January, and earlier this month.
His initial lawyer, Keith Owen, had stepped aside, citing a conflict, to be replaced in October by Katarina Coote.
She told the judge that “at this stage’’ the man was still not in a position to accept all the charges, which involved a lot of information. But Judge Harvey wasn’t having that.
“I am not prepared to allow this to drag on,’’ he said. “This is ridiculous.’’
The judge directed that not guilty pleas be entered. If there was a change of plea in future, there would be a diversion hearing, he added.
The judge remanded the case to May 20, and continued an order that suppresses the man’s identity until then – though he did so only after Coote handed him a sworn affidavit, the details of which were not public.