Lawyer refuses to testify against war medal burglary accused

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High profile lawyer Chris Comeskey says he will defy an order to give evidence against a man accused of the Waiouru Army Museum war medal burglary.

Mr Comeskey, who helped return the stolen medals, has been summonsed to give evidence for the prosecution at preliminary hearing of the case in Wanganui District Court.

But he has sworn he will stay silent, claiming lawyer-client confidentiality, The Herald on Sunday reported.

The ruling by Judge Paul Barber comes on top of a recent decision by the Court of Appeal to refuse to withdraw criticism of Mr Comeskey of his defence of a drug dealer.

A total of 96 medals, including nine Victoria Crosses, were stolen from the museum in December 2007. They were later returned in a deal brokered by Mr Comeskey, involving payments from a $300,000 reward pool.

A man was jailed for 11 years last month for his role in the theft.

A second man, charged in connection with the burglary, is facing a depositions hearing in Wanganui District Court.

Extensive suppression orders surround the case, including the identities of the two men.

However, Judge Barber gave The Herald permission to report that three lawyers - including Mr Comeskey - were required to give evidence in a preliminary depositions hearing of prosecution evidence.

Mr Comeskey, who had previously said he would rather be locked in jail than testify, told the newspaper: "I'm not giving evidence. We're just being pursued by vigilantes in suits."

He said he would seek to overturn Judge Barber's ruling and believed he had support from the New Zealand Law Society.

"Judges have become bureaucrats. They're only interested in streamlining the government resource and in doing so they forget that crucial function in delivering justice."

- NZPA