New Zealand - Court rejects murder appeal

OFF THE WIRE
 stuff.co.nz
An appeal by Blenheim man Aaron James Harvey, found guilty of murder in 2008, has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
Harvey, a member of the Lone Legion Motorcycle Club, was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison for the murder of Carl MacDonald, after a High Court trial in Blenheim in 2008.
Three other men on trial for the murder with Harvey were acquitted. Harvey appealed against his conviction.
His lawyer, Jonathan Eaton, said they were disappointed by the decision, but Harvey now had some certainty about his future.
"It's been a very long time between trial and appeal and I guess he [Harvey] is forever living in the hope there might be an opportunity for a retrial.
"At least now he knows where the land lies in terms of his future."
Mr Eaton would review the decision over the next few weeks, but said a second appeal, in the Supreme Court, was unlikely because its jurisdiction was limited to points of law, not factual disputes. The threshold for a Supreme Court appeal was high, he said.
Tommy MacDonald, the father of Carl MacDonald, said last night the family was happy with the decision.
"It's been a long time coming and, with these appeals, you don't know what's going to happen.
"I'm glad it's over."
The appeal brought emotions back to the surface for family members, he said.
"Let's hope after that one, there won't be any more and he will just have to sit back and do his time."
Harvey's family declined to comment on the decision.
Mr MacDonald was shot dead on September 15, 2007, during a confrontation outside the old Lone Legion clubhouse in Gascoigne St, Blenheim.
Mr Eaton appealed against the conviction in the Court of Appeal at Wellington on November 8 and the court delivered its decision on Wednesday.
The appeal was based on new ballistics evidence and the way ballistics evidence was presented during the trial, which Mr Eaton said could have led the jury to a different verdict.
The defence during the trial was two-fold, arguing that the Crown could not prove there was not a second shooter who fired the fatal shot and, if Harvey had killed MacDonald, it was manslaughter because the shot was to serve as a warning.
The decision says Mr Eaton argued the trial was unfair because, given more time, the defence could have called its own expert ballistic evidence to counter the Crown's evidence. Manslaughter was also treated as a secondary defence by the Crown and its primary focus was ruling out a second shooter.
Mr Eaton said the case would have been run differently if the defence had known how the Crown's expert ballistics evidence would emerge in court.
Justice Ellen France said the manslaughter defence had not been prejudiced and the new evidence from defence expert Philip Boyce would not have been enough to sway the jury.
"We see no reason for concern in this respect [prejudicing the manslaughter defence].
"It was perfectly possible to run the two defences together," she said. "In relation to the manslaughter defence, it appears that counsel for the defence made all the points that could be made."
- The Marlborough Express