Police v Williams [2014] WSSC 153 (14 July 2014)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Williams [2014] WSSC 153

Case name:	Police v Williams
Citation:	[2014] WSSC 153
Decision date:	14 July 2014
Parties:	POLICE (Prosecution) ROY HENRY WILLIAMS, male of Papauta and Vaivase. (Defendant)
Hearing date(s):	-
File number(s):
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Place of delivery:	Supreme Court of Samoa, Mulinuu
Judge(s):	Justice Nelson
On appeal from:
Order:	In respect of the first charge then of possession of 0.2 grams of methamphetamine the defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 12 months in prison. On the charge of possession of the 3,647 marijuana seeds the defendant will be convicted and accordingly sentenced to 5 years in prison. On the third charge of possession of 11 methamphetamine pipes or drug paraphernalia referred to as utensils the maximum penalty by law is 7 years in prison. The defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 3 three years in prison. Considering all the circumstances of this matter and taking into account the mitigating factors the defendant on that charge will be convicted and sentenced to 3 years in prison. The pistols that were seized and are presently under the custody of the police are ordered to be destroyed forthwith. The final charge against the defendant is possession of unlawful ammunition which seems to be one .38 caliber bullet. Because only one bullet is involved in that matter the defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 2 weeks in prison. In respect of all these terms of imprisonment that the court has sentenced you on Roy the terms will all be served concurrent to each other. Which means that you will serve a total term of 5 years.
Representation:	O Tagaloa for prosecution D Roma for defendant
Catchwords:	Methamphetamine - drug paraphernalia - utensils
Words and phrases:
Legislation cited:
Cases cited:	Police v Patau [2013] WSSC 120 Fatu (CA 415/2004)
Summary of decision:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA

HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

POLICE
Prosecution

AND:

ROY HENRY WILLIAMS, male of Papauta and Vaivase.
Defendant

Counsel: O Tagaloa for prosecution
D Roma for defendant

Sentence: 14 July 2014

SENTENCE

1. Defendant appears for sentence on a variety of narcotics charges. Possession of methamphetamine, possession of utensils, possession of marijuana seeds, possession of unlawful pistols and ammunition. The summary of facts which the defendant through his lawyer has accepted states that he is a 45 year old male of Vaivase-uta and Papauta, married with 10 children. He is a mechanic by trade and also fishes as another means of earning a living to support his family.
2. At around 6:00 am on Thursday 28 March last year the police visited the defendants house at Papauta with a search warrant. The warrant was to search for any illegal narcotics on the premises. The defendants wife saw the search party approach and she walked out to the front of the house to meet them. The summary says that the defendant was inside the house and when he heard the police approach he used the back door to exit the house. He ran away from the house carrying a pillow case. The police however had already surrounded the house and when they approached him he threw the pillow case into his plantation.
3. Inside the pillow case were found the following items: eleven (11) glass pipes used to smoke methamphetamine or ice as it is more commonly known, two (2) small plastic packets containing 0.2 grams of methamphetamine , twelve (12) small plastic packets containing 3,647 marijuana seeds, two .22 caliber pistols and one .38 ammunition.
4. When the police searched the defendants house they found a room at the back containing gas burners and tubes. Photographs taken by the police indicate that this is a room where drugs were kept and consumed. They also found further glass pipes in the room. The defendant was arrested and placed into custody hence his court appearance having pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
5. I will deal with each of the charges against the defendant individually. Beginning with the most serious of the charges possession of methamphetamine. A charge that now carries a maximum term of life in prison. Parliament recently increased the term to life imprisonment as an indication of its serious concern about the increasing presence of hard drugs in our community. Indeed the courts have seen over the years how hard drugs such as ice slowly infiltrating the drug community in this country.
6. The consumption of illegal narcotics is of course also a social problem. The courts play a role in trying to reduce the problem by imposing deterrent sentences of imprisonment of offenders. And by looking at remedial courts like a Drug and Alcohol Court. This was a subject of a recent workshop convened by the Honourable Chief Justice utilising judges of New Zealand Drug and Alcohol Court. But the courts cannot alone solve the problem. The community must also play its part. And the message that the court tries to send to the community all the time is involvement in drugs can lead to ruination of good lives and to terms in prison.
7. The defendant himself admitted to the probation office that he has been using marijuana for the past 10 years. It would now appear that his drug use has graduated to a more lethal and sinister narcotic. The defendant is probably a good example of a good man whose life has been ruined by narcotics. In the case of Police v Patau [2013] WSSC 120 my brother judge Slicer J, adopted the sentencing bands of the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Fatu (CA 415/2004) in respect of sentencing for cases involving use of ice.
8. I am in respectful agreement with his approach and propose to apply the same sentencing bands to this case in relation to possession of methamphetamine. The sentencing band prescribed for a quantity of ice less than 5 grams is band one namely 2 to 4 years in prison. I take into account that the quantity in this case is very small only 0.2 grams.
9. An appropriate start point considering all the relevant circumstances would therefore be the lower end of the band namely 2 years in prison. From that start point the defendant is entitled to certain discounts which I will now make and which counsel has referred to in her submissions. For the defendants good background and record of service to his family more particularly outlined in the pre-sentence report and giving some consideration to the character references submitted by the faifeau and others on his behalf, and to reflect the fact that at 45 years of age he has a clean police record. And to take into consideration his expression of remorse expressed through counsel acting for him as well as to the probation office I make a blanket deduction from the start point for sentence of 6 months. Leaves a balance of 18 months. For his guilty plea which has saved the time and expense of a full trial which represents a significant saving in a small jurisdiction like ours because this case would have needed overseas drug experts I will make a further deduction of 6 months leaves a balance of 12 months in prison. In respect of the first charge then of possession of 0.2 grams of methamphetamine the defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 12 months in prison.
10. I turn now to the second arguably more serious charge. That of possession of marijuana seeds. This is said to be a quantity of 3,647 seeds. The presence of marijuana plants on the defendants property indicates that he also grows marijuana. If not on his property where the two plants were found then on a plantation located elsewhere and not discovered by the police. The only reason one would have over three and a half thousand seeds in ones possession is for the purposes of a large scale cultivation of marijuana. Or alternatively to sell to people who would grow it. Either way the fact that the defendant possessed this large number of seeds indicates he is involved in the trade of marijuana in this country. Cultivators of marijuana sit right at the centre of the marijuana problem because without growers there would be no plants. The courts pronouncement in the past has been and continues to be that those involved in cultivation and dealing in marijuana can expect imprisonment terms. To try and discourage them and other people from being involved in marijuana.
11. The maximum penalty for possession of the seeds is 14 years by law. Considering the quantity of the seeds found on the defendant and all the relevant circumstances of the matter an appropriate start point for sentence in relation to this charge is 6 years in prison. I discount that by 12 months to reflect the defendants background and record and to reflect his guilty plea. On the charge of possession of the 3,647 marijuana seeds the defendant will be convicted and accordingly sentenced to 5 years in prison.
12. On the third charge of possession of 11 methamphetamine pipes or drug paraphernalia referred to as utensils the maximum penalty by law is 7 years in prison. This is a significant number of pipes and I reject the defendants suggestion in the pre-sentence report that the pipes were given to him by a friend to fix. The suggestion is incompatible with what is shown in the police photographs of the room where the pipes were found. Those photographs show the room resembles a room where drugs are consumed and looks like a room belonging to a drug dealer rather than part of a family residence. Reasonable inference can again be drawn that the defendant used this room for the consumption of methamphetamine if not for its commercial distribution.
13. An appropriate start point for sentence for this charge would be 4 years in prison. Again I reduce that by 12 months to reflect his guilty plea and the factors in his favour as with the other charges. The defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 3 three years in prison.
14. The final charges relate to possession of two unlawful weapons namely two .22 calibre pistols. There is no evidence before the court other than the pistols was in good working condition. And such weapons are the usual ancillaries to protect a drug business. Possession of such unlawful weapons carries a 5 year maximum penalty at law.
15. Considering all the circumstances of this matter and taking into account the mitigating factors the defendant on that charge will be convicted and sentenced to 3 years in prison. The pistols that were seized and are presently under the custody of the police are ordered to be destroyed forthwith.
16. The final charge against the defendant is possession of unlawful ammunition which seems to be one .38 caliber bullet. Because only one bullet is involved in that matter the defendant will be convicted and sentenced to 2 weeks in prison.
17. In respect of all these terms of imprisonment that the court has sentenced you on Roy the terms will all be served concurrent to each other. Which means that you will serve a total term of 5 years.
    

JUSTICE NELSON