Fraud accused loses appeal for jury trial

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A man accused of fraudulently claiming he had invented a new data compression method to attract investors has seen his bid for a jury trial dismissed by both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

Philip James Whitley's trial on charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office of making a false statement as a promoter is part heard before a judge alone in Nelson District Court.

Whitley's company NearZero attracted $5.3 million from about 490 investors.

To secure a trial by judge alone, the Crown must first show the trial will likely take more than 20 days and secondly that the accused's right to a jury trial is outweighed by the likelihood jurors will be unable to perform their duties effectively - for any number of reasons.

Whitley first went to the Court of Appeal to challenge whether the trial was likely to exceed 20 days but was unsuccessful.

He then approached the Supreme Court hoping to challenge the Court of Appeal's decision, this time disputing the Crown position the jury would be able to effectively hear the trial.

In a decision released last week the Supreme Court said it would not hear a challenge against a ruling on different grounds to those aired in the Court of Appeal, especially as the trial was already under way.

"Our judgment does not, of course, preclude the possibility that such grounds may be raised, if the applicant is convicted, in an appeal against conviction," the court said.

- NZPA