Joseph Karaitiana Wheeler has been denied leave to appeal to the Supreme Court in Wellington, pictured. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A “genuinely remorseful” convicted murderer has failed to argue his way out of a life sentence.
Joseph Karaitiana Wheeler is 55 and in poor health.
He fears he will die in prison or face a poor quality of life when released after the mandatory 10 years without parole that goes with a life sentence for murder.
He argued that made his sentence “manifestly unjust”.
Having failed to win that argument in the Court of Appeal, Wheeler sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking a determinate - or fixed-term - sentence instead of a life sentence in prison.
A determinate sentence would have also potentially allowed him to be paroled earlier.
The Supreme Court turned down Wheeler’s leave application, saying there was insufficient merit in his claim of a risk of a miscarriage of justice.
Wheeler stabbed and killed Richard Wallace, who owed him a drug debt of less than $100, in the Wellington suburb of Strathmore on July 19, 2021.
He later pleaded guilty to murder and was given a life sentence with a minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) of 10 years by High Court Justice Rebecca Ellis.
Justice Ellis said this was a case where, if the court had imposed a fixed-term sentence rather than life, Wheeler’s personal circumstances would have warranted greater discounts, meaning a shorter MPI.
“The mitigating factors were, in essence, Mr Wheeler’s life story,” the Supreme Court justices said in its recently released decision.
Wheeler became a ward of the state as a baby and cycled through different foster families until he was adopted at the age of two and a half.
He reported being physically abused by his adoptive father and was placed in a boys’ home at 9, where he said he was subject to further abuse.
He grew into a life of substance abuse and offending, including violence, and was admitted to hospital multiple times with various mental health issues.
He had long-standing difficulties with managing his emotions, leading to periods of depressed mood and, at other times, intense rage.
Wheeler admitted he was in such an enraged state when he killed Wallace.
“He went to the police not long after the killing and admitted to his offending,” the Supreme Court justices said.
“The courts below agreed that he was genuinely remorseful.”
In applying for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, Wheeler argued the courts had failed to consider three relevant factors that affected whether his sentence was unjust.
First, he is 55 and in poor health. Court documents cited mental health and substance abuse disorders. He argued that if he does not die in prison, he will have a “limited quality of life” when released.
Secondly, he is unlikely to be paroled because he lacks community support and an address to be released to.
Thirdly, Wheeler argued public safety concerns could be addressed by imposing an extended supervision order at the end of his sentence. Such orders keep people deemed a risk under a probation officer’s supervision for up to 10 years.
The Supreme Court said these matters were not raised in the High Court or Appeal Court, and there were problems with raising new evidence at the Supreme Court level.
But, leaving that issue to one side, the Supreme Court justices said findings of fact in his case showed the ongoing risk of violence posed by Wheeler made a determinate sentence “inappropriate”.
They dismissed his application for leave to appeal.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME's Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke's Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
How a resilient Kiwi village hopes to bounce back from a big drop in visitors.