A drugged driver who crashed into an elderly Rotorua couple, killing them, has had seven months added to his prison sentence after a District Court judge got the maths wrong at sentencing.
It’s the second time in two weeks Rotorua District Court judges have erred when adding up discounts and uplifts during the sentencing process.
Hemana Morgan-Edmonds was jailed by Judge John Bergseng on January 20 for three years and nine months for offending including a crash that killed Jan and John Christensen in Rotorua on December 18, 2023.
Jan and John Christensen died in a crash caused by Hemana Morgan-Edmonds on Te Ngae Rd on December 18, 2023.
Morgan-Edmonds' sentence was made up of three years and seven months for the crash that killed the Christensens plus a further two months jail for more driving-related offending while on bail.
The case was recalled in the Rotorua District Court on Tuesday after Judge Bergseng realised he got it wrong. He said the law allowed him to correct sentences where there had been an acknowledged accidental slip or omission.
The mistake was made when calculating the percentage reductions for mitigating factors. These included 5% for Morgan-Edmonds' young age, 10% for factors in his background and 20% for his early guilty pleas.
Judge Bergseng said those discounts added to 35%. When reducing that from his sentence starting point of six years and six months (78 months), he should have calculated a sentence of four years and two months but instead calculated three years and seven months.
Judge Bergseng said the two-month uplift for the offending while on bail remained, which took his proper end sentence to four years and four months.
‘Disastrous decision’
Judge Bergseng said at sentencing Morgan-Edmonds made a “disastrous decision” that cost the lives of two community-minded people.
He was found to have a cannabis level in his system six to 11 times higher than what was considered high-risk. He had dangerously overtaken a vehicle and was still speeding when the Christensens turned onto Te Ngae Rd from their Hannah Rd home. Their vehicle was struck by Morgan-Edmonds’ speeding car.
Hemana Morgan-Edmonds at an earlier Rotorua District Court appearance. Photo / Kelly Makiha
He pleaded guilty to two counts of drugged driving causing death and two counts of drugged driving causing injury — the latter charges relating to two people who were in Morgan-Edmonds’ car who were seriously injured.
On July 20 last year — four months after admitting causing the fatal crash — Morgan-Edmonds offended while on bail. He failed to stop for police and was driving at 120km/h on Fenton St, a 50km/h zone.
The other mistake
Judge Anna Skellern made a mistake when sentencing Mongrel Mob rapper Tihema Nuttall on February 3. Nuttall shot a man in the face in a road rage incident after picking up his children from school in 2021
Nutall, also known as rapper Temm Dogg, was jailed for nine years and one month — despite her calculations showing the sentence should have been seven months longer.
Tihema Nuttall, also known as Temm Dogg. Photo / Andrew Warner
When the matter was recalled in the Rotorua District Court two days later at the request of the Crown, Judge Skellern didn’t change the sentence, saying the end sentence was appropriate despite the mathematical error getting to it.
In that case, Judge Skellern’s starting point was 11 years imprisonment, there was a nine-month uplift for previous offending, a 10% discount for personal mitigating factors and a 12-month reduction for time spent on electronically-monitored bail. The end sentence should have been nine years and eight months’ imprisonment.
But the sentence of nine years and one month will remain.
“I consider the sentence I imposed was an appropriate one ... That was the right sentence for Mr Nuttall notwithstanding the mathematical error,” Judge Skellern said on February 7.
Nuttall was found guilty by a jury of wounding William Merito with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on Te Ngae Rd on August 5, 2021.
Nuttall, who had a loaded firearm in his car, picked up his children from Lynmore Primary School before he had an encounter with Merito while stopped at roadworks.
Nuttall drove alongside Merito and shot him in the face. Merito was forced to pull his vehicle over. He suffered serious injuries to his face, head and eyes. He survived but suffers ongoing sight problems.
Nuttall took the case to trial claiming it wasn’t him but, through his lawyer, admitted at sentencing it was him.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
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