Rotorua barrister to fight drug conviction

File photo / NZ Herald

A Rotorua barrister found guilty of selling cannabis and possession for supply has lost his fight to keep his identity a secret.

Justice Raynor Asher lifted name suppression for beneficiaries advocate and barrister Paul Blair following an appeal in the High Court at Rotorua on Wednesday.

However, suppression continued until 4pm yesterday to give Blair time to tell his family, including his mother who lives in Australia.

In a statement, Blair said he believed he had been wrongly convicted and that his was a case of mistaken identity. He would appeal the convictions in the Court of Appeal in February and was determined to clear his name, he said.

Blair was found guilty in September by a Rotorua District Court jury of one charge of selling cannabis and two counts of possession for supply.

It was the Crown's case that he not only sold a cannabis "tinny" - cannabis wrapped in tinfoil - to an undercover officer but he also produced three others.

His workplace was searched and cannabis was found in a container in a fridge.

Following the September trial, Blair's lawyer Fraser Wood applied for name suppression to continue but that was declined by Judge Chris McGuire.

Mr Wood appealed Judge McGuire's decision in the High Court at Rotorua on Wednesday. He argued that name suppression should continue pending Blair's appeal against his convictions.

Mr Wood said if Blair was successful in his appeal next year and a retrial was ordered, publishing his name at this stage would irreparably affect his ability to have a fair trial.

In his decision to dismiss the appeal and lift name suppression, Justice Asher said there was a need for open justice.

The right to a fair trial "must trump" open justice considerations but a retrial in this case was no more than a possibility.

"Mr Blair's right to any fair trial that might follow a successful appeal will not be damaged by publication."

Outside court, Blair said it was a case of misidentification and improper use of his office by others who had access to it over a weekend.

He said those people irresponsibly left a small amount of cannabis in the office fridge. The amount of cannabis the police said was involved was minuscule and included 8.7g found at an office where a number of people regularly worked.