DPP v Krauze

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Birmingham P.
• Judgment Date: 21 March 2019
• Neutral Citation: [2019] IECA 76
• Docket Number: [124/17]
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ireland)
• Date: 21 March 2019

[2019] IECA 76

THE COURT OF APPEAL

Birmingham P.

Birmingham P.

Edwards J.

McCarthy J.

[124/17]

BETWEEN

THE PEOPLE AT THE SUIT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

RESPONDENT

AND

ANDREJS KRAUZE

APPELLANT

Conviction – Murder – Admissibility of evidence – Appellant seeking to appeal against conviction – Whether the trial judge erred in law in ruling evidence admissible

Facts: The appellant, Mr Krauze, on 29th March 2017, following a trial which lasted 13 days, was convicted by a unanimous jury in the Central Criminal Court of the offence of murder. He had faced trial on a count which alleged that on a date between the 7th and 23rd July 2011, he had murdered one Mr Buls in Glenamaddy, County Galway. Four grounds of appeal were advanced: (i) that the trial judge erred in law and in fact in ruling admissible an interview given by the appellant to the Latvian authorities; (ii) that the judge erred in law in ruling admissible the evidence of previous bad character of the appellant; (iii) that the judge erred in law in permitting the respondent, the DPP, to furnish additional evidence throughout the trial and in response to specific aspects of the cross-examination and conduct of the defence case; and (iv) that the judge erred in law in allowing evidence to be given by the interpreter of the appellant’s interview in Latvia.

Held by the Court of Appeal that none of the grounds that were canvassed in the course of the appeal had caused the Court to doubt the fairness of the trial or the safety of the verdict.

The Court held that the appeal would be dismissed.

Appeal dismissed.

JUDGMENT of the Court delivered on the 21st day of March 2019 by Birmingham P.

1 On 29th March 2017, following a trial which had lasted 13 days, the appellant was convicted by a unanimous jury in the Central Criminal Court of the offence of murder. He had faced trial on a count which alleged that on a date between the 7th to 23rd July 2011, he had murdered one Mr. Juris Buls in Glenamaddy, County Galway.

2 Four grounds of appeal have been advanced:

(i) That the trial Judge erred in law and in fact in ruling admissible an interview given by the appellant to the Latvian authorities;

(ii) That the Judge erred in law in ruling admissible the evidence of previous bad character of the applicant;

(iii) That the Judge erred in law in permitting the DPP to furnish additional evidence throughout the trial and in response to specific aspects of the cross-examination and conduct of the defence case;

(iv) That the Judge erred in law in allowing evidence to be given by the interpreter of the appellant's interview in Latvia;

3 Before dealing with the grounds of appeal, it is necessary to explain that both the appellant, Mr. Krauze, and the deceased, Mr. Buls, were members of the Latvian community. Mr. Buls and Serges Krauze, brother of the appellant, were both living and working in the Glenamaddy area of Galway. At trial, there was evidence from a number of witnesses about an altercation involving the appellant and the deceased that had occurred on 12th February 2011. The evidence was that following a disagreement about a car, the appellant had entered the deceased's home and assaulted him. Arising from this, the deceased lodged a complaint with Gardaí on 17th February 2011. The fact that the Court heard about this altercation on 12th February 2011 explains ground of appeal (ii), that the Judge erred in ruling admissible evidence of previous bad character of the appellant.

4 At trial, the prosecution case was that on 7th July 2011, Serges Krauze drove his brother, Andrejs, from Portadown in County Armagh to Glenamaddy. The prosecution contended that at this stage, the appellant was angry about the fact that the deceased had made a complaint about him to Gardaí. The prosecution case was that Andrejs Krauze went to the home of the deceased and murdered him there and that the body was then moved to a wooded area known as Funshion Woods, close to Glenamaddy.

5 On 7th July 2011, the deceased, who had been scheduled to work a night shift at Titan Plastics in Glenamaddy, his place of work, failed to appear. He was subsequently reported missing, and on 23rd July 2011, Serges Krauze, the brother of the appellant, directed members of An Garda Síochána to the Funshion Woods area. There, the body of the deceased was found in a drain within the woods.

6 Following a request by the Director of Public Prosecutions, pursuant to s. 62(2) of the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008, the appellant was interviewed on 9th March 2012 in Skirotava Prison in Riga, Latvia, where he was serving a sentence for a theft offence. The interview was conducted by Sergeant Michael Kelly and Detective Sergeant Michael O'Driscoll of An Garda Síochána. Also present was Jurijs Jabrens, an Inspector/Investigator with the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Latvia, and Ginta Lauvra Triede, a Russian interpreter. The interview was conducted in the Question and Answer format after the appellant had been cautioned. The prosecution case is that significant admissions were made during the interview, including by way of a demonstration of how the appellant strangled the deceased. It is this interview which resulted in admissions in Riga which provides the basis for ground (i) of the grounds of appeal. The question of the admissibility of evidence arising from the Riga interview and the admissibility of evidence in relation to the incident on 12th February 2011 were the...