The ‘‘vulnerability’’ of United States visa holders was a key factor in a judge deciding not to convict a Chinese software engineer over an Arrowtown crash.
Xinghao Huang, 30, who lives in the US, appeared before Judge Duncan Harvey in the Queenstown District Court via audiovisual link yesterday, having earlier admitted a charge of careless driving causing injury near Arrowtown on New Year’s Day.
Through his lawyer, Megan Waller, he sought to be discharged without conviction.
Police took a neutral position.
Judge Harvey said at 9.36pm on January 1, Huang was driving on State Highway 6 towards Gibbston when he lost control of his vehicle near Arrow Junction as he navigated a left-hand bend.
The vehicle crossed the centreline, hit a row of trees on the right-hand side of the road and then ‘‘bounced back’’ on to the highway, coming to rest in the west-bound lane.
The defendant and his friend, who was in the front passenger seat, managed to get out of the vehicle and were later taken to Lakes District Hospital.
Huang was uninjured, but his friend sustained a broken right leg and grazes due to smashed glass.
The vehicle was written off.
While the defendant could not explain why he lost control, Judge Harvey noted there had been ‘‘light rain’’ that evening, which could be ‘‘extremely dangerous’’ in the middle of summer if it mixed with oil on roads.
‘‘Coupled with that, I suspect the defendant was not particularly experienced driving on
our roads.’’
Judge Harvey said Huang was not speeding at the time — it was estimated he was travelling about 70kmh — and he was co-operative, remorseful and had no prior convictions.
Mrs Waller submitted the gravity of the offending was low, and it was ‘‘not a crime involving moral turpitude’’ which, under US immigration laws, often led to deportation or inadmissibility.
She said Huang held a visa to work in the the US for a large software corporation. However, every time he left the country, for example to visit family in China, he had to apply for another visa to return.
She submitted a conviction could either result in delays in processing future visas, which could jeopardise his employment, or his visa being declined.
Judge Harvey said it appeared as though there were ‘‘very real risks for anybody with any conviction of any sort’’ in the US at present.
‘‘It would seem from all the information that has been coming from America that persons there with a visa can be in a vulnerable position. We hear almost daily accounts of persons who are in the country legally ... being uplifted and returned to their own country.’’
While Judge Harvey agreed it was not an offence of moral turpitude, any conviction had to be disclosed to immigration authorities, ‘‘and that is when real problems can arise’’.
‘‘It is for the reasons given I have determined a conviction would, in this case, be unjust,’’ he said. However, he did disqualify Huang from driving for six months.
