Police v Schuster [2010] WSSC 114 (28 June 2010)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

THE POLICE
Informant

AND:

MICHAEL VAI SCHUSTER
male of Vaimoso-tai.
Defendant

Counsels: Mr G. Patu for the prosecution
Ms. R. Schuster for the defendant

Sentence: 28 June 2010

SENTENCE OF NELSON J.

O fea sa e moe ai Michael? (Defendant indicated he slept at Tafaigata Prison). Faatoa e oo lena i Tafaigata? O lea sau vaai i le nofoaga? (Defendant indicated it was as he said, the place was not a good one). Na ala ona faataatia lau mataupu ae sei fa'aoo oe mo se po se tasi i Tafaigata ina ia faamanino atu ai ia oe le tulaga e mafai ona e oo iai pe a molia mai oe i solitulafono faapenei. O le tulaga tonu lena, ma ou te talitonu o lena ua e vaai iai e le'o se nofoaga lelei, e le'o se nofoaga e iai ni tagata amio lelei. E tele tulaga e faaletonu ai. E te toe fia oo iai? (Defendant indicated this was the first and the last time). O lau tautinoga lena i luma o le faamasinoga, ia e savali iai i au upu aua e savali le faamasinoga i ana upu.

Ona o tulaga lea o le a faamatala atu i le faaiuga o lau mataupu e mafai ona tuu atu le avanoa ia oe I le aso, o le a le faafalepuipui oe I le solitulafono lea. Ae a toe aumai oe I se solitulafono faapenei, e leai seisi avanoa e maua.

Defendant in this case was part of a group that assaulted and robbed a 17 year old male of a neighbouring village. What they took was a $10, a necklace and a pair of earrings. The incident occurred at night in the defendants village and the victim was said to be suspected of stealing from some people in the village. An allegation the victim denies. The defendant was drunk at the time as was his group who are said to be members of the Vaimoso rugby team. I am not aware what has happened to others of the group and whether they have been charged but this defendant has been charged with robbery hence his appearance before the court today to which charge he has pleaded guilty.

The victim has since vanished and the probation office efforts to locate him have been unsuccessful according to their report. But the defendant through his counsel has said that he met the victim on a bus by coincidence and he apologised to him on that occasion. This however could not be confirmed by the Probation Office because they could not locate the victim.

The actions of the defendant and his group in robbing a young victim alone late at night is probably best described as cowardly and appeared to be the mindless acts of immature youths. Fortunately the victim appears not to have been seriously injured in your assault and robbery but this is the sort of behaviour is becoming too common in our community and is the sort of behaviour the alii and faipule of your village should deal with. Quite apart from the courts sentence I will require the Probation Office to refer this matter to the Alii and Faipule of Vaimoso to take any further action they may consider necessary. But the sentence of the court should also be reported to the Alii and Faipule because they may feel that is sufficient.

For the purposes of the charge as I have explained to the defendant I do not propose to impose an imprisonment term but you should be aware Michael that the maximum term for the offence of robbery is 10 years in jail. It is however in the defendants favour the victim was not seriously injured and that the defendant pleaded guilty, that the defendants role appears not to be as a primary offender but just as one of this group and the defendant has displayed signs of remorse for his behaviour. His counsel has asked I treat him as a first offender but he is not a first offender because he has a recent previous conviction in December 2008 for drunkenness and drunkenness seems to have played a significant part in the present offending.

I trust the defendant has learned something from his one night stand at Tafaigata prison and believe me Michael, o tagata e onaona solo ma fasi fasi tagata, one day you will meet someone who is better at it than you, then you will become the victim. And I hope it does not cost you something of value. The defendant therefore given his record cannot be treated as a first offender and a penalty of some sternness is required in the hope it will teach him and others of his rugby team and other young men that the community and the law does not tolerate this sort of behaviour.

Defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 12 months supervision under the Probation Office with the following special conditions:

1. 40 hours community service;
2. during the period of supervision he is to refrain from all forms of alcohol, stay out of bars and not to go within 50 meters of establishments that sell and serve alcohol;
3. he is to pay $50 to the Probation Office within 14 days for the victims medical expenses and if the victim cannot be located then this money should be applied to the Toe Tomanatu Programme, and the defendant should attend that programme as directed by the Probation Office.
   

O isi tulaga o lou faanofovaavaia Michael lea o le a faamalamalama atu e le alii ofisa lea e alaala atu i le faamasinoga ae o tulaga na o le faaiuga o le mataupu lenei. Faaaoga lelei le avanoa lea ua avatu aua a toe aumai oe i se mataupu faapenei o lena ua e iloa le iuga e te oo iai.

JUSTICE NELSON