In March 2020 Morgan met a sex worker in a motel room who wanted payment in cash.
Morgan only had a credit card so the woman tried to get him to leave to obtain cash, according to the Court of Appeal judgment from Justice Stephen Kós.
There was a struggle as Morgan refused and the sex worker submitted to his demands.
A High Court jury found him guilty of unlawful detention for the purpose of sexual connection but not guilty of unlawful sexual connection and sexual violation.
Morgan already had two previous strikes against him stemming from convictions in 2013 and 2016.
Both of those offences involved cases of indecent assault and he was given stage-one and stage-two warnings.
Under the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010, people convicted of a third serious violent, sex or drug offence should get the maximum available sentence without parole.
The Act requires judges to impose the severe sentences on serious offenders.
However, in October last year, Justice Minister Kris Faafoi announced the introduction of the Three Strikes Legislation Repeal Bill 2021.
"The three-strike act has led to some absurd outcomes," Faafoi said.
"A person was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for an offence where usually an 18-month term would be imposed".
The Government's aim was to remove the mandatory sentencing requirements that it said result in excessive and disproportionate sentence outcomes by preventing judges from taking the individual circumstances of the offender and the offending into account.
Faafoi said: "... there have been some perverse outcomes, but we acknowledge that there
are victims in this and there will be no revictimisation of those people during this process, because there is no retrospective aspect of this Bill".
The Bill is now before a Select Committee with a report due on May 17.
If passed the Bill will come into force on July 1, but at this stage without retrospective effect meaning anyone convicted prior to that would remain subject to the three-strikes regime.
Morgan applied for leave to appeal High Court Justice Cameron Mander's decision that he could not adjourn the sentencing until after Parliament repeals the law.
Justice Kós said in his judgment in the Court of Appeal that only the criminal law that exists at the date of the hearing can be drawn on.
He said courts should not act in anticipation of legislation not yet passed.
"Nor should they pre-empt Parliament's decision by shunting sentencings into a sort of siding to relieve some defendants (but not others) from non-retrospectivity, if ultimately that is Parliament's will.
"Parliament must make the decision whether to repeal the current sentencing framework and, if so, whether to do so retrospectively. The choices before Parliament are stark ones, but they are Parliament's stark choices."
He said Morgan may be able to change the outcome through a sentencing appeal, because without a legitimate basis for adjournment the sentencing must proceed under the law as it stands, even though the three strikes regime may end in three months.
"The deeply unfortunate consequence, for Mr Morgan and for others, is for
Parliament to weigh."
Former National Party justice spokesman Simon Bridges previously said the three-strikes repeal would mark a "tragic" day for New Zealand.
"It will put public safety at more risk and it will result in more victimisation of victims."
