Police 'lose' request for information regarding dodgy prosecution:

 Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka v The Queen.

On 2 May 2016 Te Ringa Mangu (Dun) Mihaka and his Maori Agent delivered two documents to the Porirua Police station.  One was an authority for the Maori Agent to act and the other was a request for all information on the Police file regarding the dodgy prosecution based on a Summary of Facts which was directly contradicted by the evidence of the complainant, who said the alleged incident happened at around 7.30 in the morning as he was getting up and making a coffee, while NZ Police Summary of Facts states that the alleged incident occurred at around nine o'clock at night while everyone was going to bed.  There was never any motive put forward for the alleged incident, the element of mens rea was completely absent and the only indication of actus reus was dodgy to say the least

To add maximum insult to injury the charging document refers to "Nathan MIHAKA".

Mr Mihaka has only been telling the Police Courts of New Zealand for over fifty years, in very strong language, that he intensely dislikes being referred to as "Nathan Mihaka".  He asserts that his parents did not name him "Nathan" at all, they named him "Netana", but due to a clerical issue - ignorance basically - he, like so many other Maori, including my own family, had their names distorted - 'Anglicised' - in this way.  If it wasn't for the Crown's unreasonable insistence on charging to correct their error this would no doubt have been corrected years ago.  Nevertheless, NZ Police and the Courts are very well aware of Mr Mihaka's intense disliking for this form of address, which he considers to be deliberately and extremely offensive given the history of his attempts to be addressed by his correct name, Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka.  His books, notably "Whakapohane", describe this in great detail, and he has always maintained that "Nathan Mihaka" is not one of his aliases, it is a fiction perpetrated upon his identity and his mana by a Crown colonial system which he and his tupuna did not sign up to, as it has now been firmly established that Maori did not cede sovereignty.

Prosecutorial misconduct is out of control in New Zealand, due to a so called independent Police Conduct Authority which is more in the business of covering up and making excuses for Police misconduct and widespread dysfunction, and this appears to be another case of prosecutorial misconduct.

Apart from the major discrepancy referred to above, it is clear that there was reasonable doubt as to the complainant's story, and that the complainant was exaggerating - he couldn't hold his breath for one minute let alone two, and the decision to prosecute as well as the manner in which the prosecution was conducted warrant further scrutiny, hence the requests for the file on this matter, particularly any evidence that the defendant received any Disclosure, let alone full Disclosure, and all information held by NZ Police regarding Mr Mihaka according to the Privacy Act, the Official Information Act and the Criminal Disclosure Act, etc.

We attempted to deliver the requests etc the previous day, driving from Paraparaumu and back for the purpose of doing so, but there was a sign on the door saying "Closed due to illness".

We handed the requests to a woman who identified herself (at our request) as "Lisa", a Police Prosecutor.  There was also a Sergeant McCormick present, and we explained that our requests were somewhat urgent as Mr Mihaka requires this information as evidence in current proceedings in the Human Rights Review Tribunal - further information regarding these proceedings will be published in the next few days.

Surprise, surprise.  NZ Police appear to have lost the request and want another copy of it.  This email was received today from Sgt McCormick in response to my request for an indication of when the information would be available:

As per our discussion on 16^th May I left a message on the cell phone you provided me (027 4210645) @ 02:27pm stating that Wellington District Official Information Requests advised that they did not receive a copy of the request I scanned through to them. In the phone message I asked if you could provided a copy of the stamped request that I scanned through to them when you called on 16^th May.  I apologise for this delay but assumed that you had received the message I left for you.

If you can scan a copy of that request back to me to enable me to fwd it them them.

Steve McCormick

Station Sergeant : Kapiti-Mana
027 4210645 is not my phone number and I certainly did not provide this number to Police - no wonder I didn't get the message.

Mr Mihaka's Maori Agent responded:

"Tena koe Sgt,

It seems that you didn't record my phone number accurately which is why I would not have received your message.

Mr Mihaka and I lack the resources to scan and resend this information - where are the original documents we delivered to 'Lisa' at Porirua Police Station???

We wish to make a formal complaint regarding the "loss" of the request which we delivered, and the manner in which our enquiries have been dealt with, please arrange for the information to be made available urgently and treat this as a formal complaint - Mr Mihaka was required to have this information in to the HRRT by 13 May 2016, some of it is well overdue - he should have been provided with initial disclosure and full disclosure before his trial.

I felt that 'Lisa' was dismissive and somewhat offensive in the manner in which she dealt with our request and this latest message is unacceptable.  You and 'Lisa' both witnessed me deliver the request and it is entirely unacceptable that you appear to have lost it.  Mr Mihaka and I went to considerable trouble and expense to make the request and as stated we lack the resources to repeat the request and we both feel we shouldn't have to.

What exactly happened to the request and authorisation we delivered to 'Lisa' - what action did she take and what exactly did she do with those documents?

Mr Mihaka and I are both shocked to read this message and learn that no action whatsoever has apparently been taken by your staff in response to our request, and that after having to endure the dismissive and offensive verbal response from 'Lisa' it now seems that she didn't even bother to file the documents let alone forward them to the correct Police department, and they have apparently disappeared."

This site will be updated shortly with further information regarding the claim filed by lawyer Nathan Bourke on behalf of Te Ringa Mangu Mihaka in the Human Rights Review Tribunal.