Tomato Boy had previously applied to have his charges of assault dismissed under section 147 of the Criminal Procedures Act.
To do so, one of the following had to be true:
—
(a)
the prosecutor has not offered evidence at trial; or
(b)
in relation to a charge for which the trial procedure is the Judge-alone procedure, the court is satisfied that there is no case to answer; or
(c)
in relation to a charge to be tried, or being tried, by a jury, the Judge is satisfied that, as a matter of law, a properly directed jury could not reasonably convict the defendant.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2011/0081/latest/DLM3360237.html
In a pleasantly Just outcome (for the NZ Justice system’s recent history), Judge Ryan’s reserved decision that was revealed today stated she “could not dismiss the charges as a decision on guilt was up to a jury at trial”.
(The article linked below is currently showing a 404 page, the screenshots of it are below.)
