A police officer's handling of a cannabis prosecution in Queenstown has been slammed by a District Court judge, leading to an internal review of the way the resort's police handled the case.
The decision by Judge Bernadette Farnan to dismiss all charges against Christian Michael Pearce (23) and James Robert Neill (29), relating to the sale of class C-controlled cannabis, opens the door for others convicted as a result of the police investigation last year to appeal those convictions.
At least one of the men will make a formal complaint with the Independent Police Complaints Authority over the actions of Queenstown Constable Jason Reid, the officer in charge of the investigation, who Judge Farnan said was ''reckless''.
She inferred that he acted in ''bad faith'' in his record-keeping and was ''misleading''.
Otago Lakes-Central acting area commander Senior Sergeant John Fookes said following the decision on August 12 this year, police had initiated an internal review of the issues raised by Judge Farnan.
A senior officer from outside the Otago Lakes-Central policing area had been appointed to conduct the review and identify follow-up action.
"Police [are] committed to ensuring that all prosecutions brought are conducted to the highest possible standard and takes seriously any departures from that standard.''
The men were charged along with about 12 others over the sale and supply of cannabis in the resort.
The investigation began after Const Reid and Const Zoe Albon, both stationed at Queenstown Airport at the time, were called to assist with an eviction at the SIT student apartments in Frankton on July 3.
While there, Const Reid noticed a snap lock bag in the back pocket of one man when he stood up. He removed the bag without a search warrant - the judge found this to have been illegal.
Judge Farnan found Const Reid intended to deceive Sergeant Tracy Haggart at Queenstown Police Station while securing that person a pre-charge warning for cannabis possession.
Const Reid did not tell Sgt Haggart that drug-related utensils and 18 zip lock bags were also found at the man's address. The man has name suppression.
While Const Reid denied deliberately withholding information from Sgt Haggart, Judge Farnan found Const Reid's actions were ''reckless''.
After the pre-charge warning was granted, that person provided Const Reid with details of ''suppliers'' in the resort, which led to police applications to access content on cellphones.
In those applications, he overstated information, which Judge Farnan found to be ''misleading'', labelling his actions ''reckless'' and ''close'' to bad faith, given there was ''no clear evidence'' indicating one of the three people investigated was selling cannabis.
Cellphone text messages led to the identification of others charged over the sale and supply of cannabis in the resort, many of whom were United Kingdom residents, deported after serving their sentences.
There was also evidence of a lack of documentation by Const Reid, as per police guidelines, and evidence was given in court that some documentation was destroyed while the matter was still before the court.
Const Reid had described some of his actions during the investigation - which snowballed into a larger investigation than originally anticipated after the cellphone applications were granted - as ''sloppy''.
Judge Farnan described his performance as ''woeful''.
''I have grave concerns regarding the management of this inquiry by Const Reid.
''I am not able to reach any conclusion as to whether he was deliberately dishonest. ''However, I have formed the view that he was reckless and that he himself admitted he was sloppy in the way in which he conducted this inquiry.
''It is my view that there has been improperly obtained evidence in this case ... it is my view that I am able to infer bad faith on behalf of Const Reid in that his record keeping has not met the standard that one would expect of a police officer.
''Whether that was a result of deliberate behaviour on his behalf, I am unable to determine, but it is clear that such an inquiry ... was not an inquiry within his normal course of work.''
While Const Reid had undertaken detective training, Judge Farnan said she was unsure how much he had learnt from that given the ''several breaches of what would, to me, appear to be fundamentally good police practice''.
In dismissing the charges at the pre-trial hearing in Queenstown, Judge Farnan said the two men were not able to receive a fair trial due to ''inaccurate police record keeping and deficiencies''.
Lawyer Kate McHugh, who acted on behalf of Mr Neill, said while the decision did open the door for the others charged as a result of the investigation - regardless of whether or not they had admitted the offending - it would be ''tricky''.
''It's certainly not straightforward ... [but a drug conviction] is not something you want, so it wouldn't be so much [an appeal] against a sentence situation, it might involve actually challenging the conviction.''
Ms McHugh said Judge Farnan's decision had provided relief for her client who felt ''persecuted'' throughout the past year.
''In a small community like Queenstown, I suppose that's been very difficult for him.''
She had received instructions to pursue an application for costs from the police, as had lawyer Hugo Young, who acted for Mr Pearce.
Mr Young told the Otago Daily Times he understood Mr Pearce would be laying a formal complaint with the IPCA.
''So I anticipate that the matters which were dealt with at the hearing will be re-examined.
''I indicated at the hearing ... that I was going to complain.''
Mr Young had indicated to the judge he would complain to the IPCA. Since then, his client said he would complain, and Mr Young would stand aside.
