The Herald had a story over the weekend over the upcoming John Banks donations case; check this out:
John Banks' lawyer is seeking details of Kim Dotcom's convictions in Germany to establish the tycoon's "credibility" as a key witness against him in his trial over donations.
David Jones, QC, was instructed by the High Court to serve Immigration NZ with papers aimed at extracting information supplied as part of Dotcom's residency application. The order comes ahead of the May 17 High Court trial of Mr Banks' allegedly filing a false electoral return. Mr Jones told the High Court he wanted permission to seek from Immigration NZ "information pertaining to the criminal convictions of Mr Dotcom in any country other than New Zealand".
Justice Edwin Wylie said the information was "potentially relevant". "It is information which should have been disclosed in the course of an immigration application. It could also go to the credibility of Mr Dotcom and he is a key Crown witness."
Official Information Act material released by Immigration NZ in 2012 showed Mr Dotcom had declared two criminal convictions from Germany.
The information, released to media, showed the convictions were voluntarily declared because no formal record of them existed after being wiped by the Germany's "clean slate"-style legislation.
Documents show Mr Dotcom's immigration agency volunteered the details that he had convictions - which had expired - for computer hacking and insider trading.
It's hardly rocket science to suggest that part of John Banks' defence will be to investigate Herr Dotcom's credibility. A quick scan of his Twitter feed is likely to provide the Banks defence team with plenty of ammunition as well.
Kim Dotcom does indeed have a chequered history. As well as the offences committed in Germany, he was also prosecuted for dishonesty offences by the Hong Kong authorities after he had been granted New Zealand residence. He was convicted of eight charges with regard to trading activities on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Dotcom's evidence will be a key part of the Crown case against John Banks. But under our justice system, the Crown has the obligation to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and the credibility of Crown witnesses is a very relevant issue. Given some of the information that has emerged about Mr Dotcom in recent months, it will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
