Top lawyer escapes conviction over courtroom scuffle

By PATRICK GOWER

Criminal lawyer Christopher Harder has escaped conviction for assault after claiming he had been using a weight-loss drug at the time that could cause agitation and overreaction.

Harder admitted the two charges of common assault when he appeared in the North Shore District Court yesterday. He had been accused of punching fellow high-profile criminal lawyer Barry Hart during a courtroom scuffle.

The 55-year-old was discharged without conviction after volunteering to pay a $1000 donation to the SPCA - apparently because Mr Hart is a horse-lover - and $500 in court costs.

Harder also argued that a conviction might prevent the overseas travel that has seen him offer to act as a negotiator in various conflicts around the world.

The hearing was held in the same courtroom where Harder attacked Mr Hart in May after a row in the police cells over who would represent alleged double-murderer Wen Hui Cui.

The court heard how Harder had been briefed to act for Cui and was interviewing him in a cell when Mr Hart knocked on the door.

There was a "heated derogatory verbal exchange" before Harder pushed Mr Hart out the door and against a concrete wall.

In the words of presiding judge Christopher Harding, Harder then put his "closed fist in contact with [Hart's] face in an exaggerated, slow and threatening manner four times".

They clashed again later in the courtroom upstairs where, after some more eyeballing, Harder punched Mr Hart in the stomach.

Although Mr Hart did not lay a complaint, Harder was charged in August after an investigation headed by a high-ranking detective.

For Harder, Peter Williams, QC, said Mr Hart should take some blame for creating a stressful situation but it was not an attempt "to pass the buck".

"The whole essence of being a barrister is to be a gentleman and this [Harder's behaviour] was ungentlemanly conduct."

The court was given evidence of Harder's use of the prescription-only weight loss drug Duromine at the time.

A medical certificate from Dr Graham Wardhope confirmed the lawyer had been prescribed the drug three days earlier and said it was "an adrenaline derivative that in initial stages of use could cause an overreaction in a high-stress situation".

There was also an affidavit from barrister Melanie Coxon, who said she had noticed Harder had been "unusually titchy and out of character" in the weekend before the attack. She had told him to check out the medication.

Police opposed the application for a discharge without conviction.

They had earlier denied Harder diversion because he was "an officer of the court".

A charge of common assault carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $4000 fine.

Judge Harding accepted Harder's application for the discharge after considering whether the conviction would be out of proportion to the offending.

He took into account the use of the drug and the way convictions made it difficult to travel in the post-September 11 world, as well as his guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.

Harder's actions are still under investigation by the Auckland District Law Society. Mr Hart is now representing Cui, who allegedly slit his girlfriend's throat then stabbed her friend in April.

Outside the court, Mr Harder said he hoped he and Mr Hart could be friends again. He also said he had stopped taking duromine since the incident.

"I have a treadmill in my office now."

Christopher Harder

* Has acted in many high-profile criminal cases, including the Parnell Panther rape cases and the Peter Plumley-Walker and Michael Choy murder trials.

* Since 1993 he has attempted to resolve some of the world's ugliest standoffs in troublespots including Fiji, Waco, in Texas, Peru, the Balkans and Pakistan.