The defendant was convicted on a charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. He appealed to the Supreme Court of New Zealand, claiming there was undue delay in the interim between his arrest and trial (almost five years). The Court called the delay “plainly excessive” and cited the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. It also cited multiple U.S. Supreme Court cases and held that the delay here could not be justified, and upheld the reduction of his sentence by eighteen months, or twenty-five percent. It hesitated to do, however, out of a concern for letting loose dangerous criminals. It called the reduction “generous” and hinted that only in situations in which the delay in trial reaches “peculiarly outrageous proportions” would the Court reduce prisoners’ sentences.

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