KEY POINTS:
The battle to keep the identity of the daughter of a wealthy Auckland family secret is moving to the High Court, where her lawyer will appeal against a District Court judge's decision to name the young woman.
The woman, who is in her 20s, is charged with possession of methamphetamine for supply, possession and use of drug utensils for methamphetamine and the possession and procurement of cannabis.
She was arrested in June and has appeared several times in the Waitakere District Court, where she has been granted continued name suppression on the basis of ill-health.
Yesterday her lawyer, Mark Ryan, sought continued suppression, saying she was still suffering from medical problems and her grandparents were unwell.
He also said the police case was weak and unlikely to make it past depositions, let alone to a trial.
If it did get to trial, Mr Ryan, said the woman would be acquitted, but that would not be enough to mitigate the "damage" done if she was named.
"You would be penalising an innocent person," he told Judge Philip Recordon.
Mr Ryan added that people were entitled under the Bill of Rights to be presumed innocent.
However, Judge Recordon said the woman had had five weeks to tell her grandparents about the charges and while she had health problems herself, that was not enough of a reason to continue suppressing her name.
"I do not see that publication is going to affect that any worst than having these charges hanging over her head."
Judge Recordon said case law showed the impact of media coverage before a trial was minimal on juries and publicity now was unlikely to affect a trial, which would be at least 12 months away.
He said he did not necessarily agree with Mr Ryan's assertion that the case was unlikely to get to trial.
Judge Recordon said there had to be very special circumstances to justify a departure from the principles of freedom of speech, the right of the media to report what happened in court, and open justice.
This case, he said, fell "well short" of those circumstances, so continued name suppression was denied.
Mr Ryan immediately said he would appeal to the High Court.
As a result, Judge Recordon had to grant interim name suppression until 4pm on Monday, when it is hoped the appeal will have been heard.
