On Sat, 30 Jun 2012 11:13:30 +1200, Peter Huebner
<> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>Disgusting, and disquieting.
This is for the nz.comp posters who defended the police raid and
wouldn't accept that it was grandstanding. Apologies accepted,
starting with "nospam" and "whoisthis":
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology...ectid=10816560
Kowtowing police forgot rules
5:30 AM Sunday Jul 1, 2012
This week's High Court ruling that the raid on Kim Dotcom's
Coatesville mansion was illegal represents a substantial body blow to
the cause of the commercial and legal interests in the US who want the
internet tycoon extradited to face charges of copyright violation.
It is also a huge embarrassment to the New Zealand Police who, acting
on the request of a US Federal Prosecutor, staged the spectacular raid
on January 20. There was widespread public unease at the time about
the "Rambo" style of the raid, which Dotcom described this week as
more suited to flushing out a hidden Osama bin Laden than a flamboyant
and highly conspicuous tycoon whose home was probably the country's
single most famous domestic building. But Justice Helen Winkelmann's
ruling finds profound cause for concern on legal grounds.
Police would have been bracing themselves for her ruling since the
hearing a month ago at which she openly questioned their entitlement
to do all they did on the day.
"They were clearly entitled to search and seize evidence in relation
to the [alleged copyright breach] but that did not give them carte
blanche to take everything," she said.
Now, consistent with that observation, she has ruled that the search
warrants issued by the District Court and used in the raid were
invalid because they did not adequately describe the allegations
against the internet multi-millionaire and gave police authority to
seize too wide a range of items.
But if Dotcom has won this battle, he is a long way from winning the
war. His American lawyer, Ira Rothken, has said the ruling was
embarrassing for both governments and a "tremendous blow" to the case
against Dotcom. That may be unduly sanguine. It remains to be seen
what bearing it will have on the August extradition hearing, the
outcome of which will be influenced by many factors other than the
legality of the original raid.
As the Supreme Court ruling in the Urewera case made plain, evidence
obtained improperly, or even illegally, will not necessarily be ruled
inadmissible if the charges to which it relates are serious enough.
And if the substantive case gets to court in the US, some powerful
forces will be arrayed against Dotcom.
Still, this is a salutary rebuke to the police for what seems to have
been an unconscionably gung-ho approach.
The idea that when the FBI shouted "Jump!", our police would ask "How
high?"was already distasteful enough. The least that might be hoped is
that, while jumping, they would show scrupulous respect for our own
legal process.
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