State v Lee Lang [2010] FJHC 41; HAC137.2007S (5 February 2010)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT SUVA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. HAC 137 OF 2007S

STATE

V

LEE I. LANG

Counsels: Mr. L. Fotofili for the State Mr. A. Seru for the Accused

Hearings: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th February 2010
Summing Up: 5th February, 2010
Judgment: 5th February, 2010

JUDGMENT

1. Following a trial lasting four days, the assessors have returned with an unanimous verdict of guilty, on both counts, mentioned in the information, against the accused.

2. I have reviewed the evidence called in the trial, and I have directed myself in accordance with the summing up I gave the assessors today. I find that the verdict of the assessors was not perverse. They found that the accused as captain of the "Win Feng 136", a foreign fishing vessel, fished within Fiji’s exclusive economic zone, without a Fiji government license, between 2nd and 20th December 2006.

3. It was open to the assessors to reach the above conclusion on the evidence. I accept their verdict. I therefore find the accused guilty as charged, on both counts, in the information. I convict him accordingly, on both counts.

Salesi Temo
ACTING JUDGE

AT Suva
5th February, 2010