Wed 4 Aug 2010 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
5.30PM: The trio of Court of Appeal judges hearing the appeal of Ferdinand Ambach have adjourned it, in light of his claim he was not given the option of pleading guilty to manslaughter. Sporting a check shirt and with his hair pulled back with a hair tie, Ambach represented himself in court, claiming his sentence of 12 years jail, with a minimum non-parole period of eight years, was excessive. Ronald Brown The sentence was handed down last year for the manslaughter of gay Auckland man Ronald Brown. Ambach, a Hungarian tourist, beat the 69-year-old with a banjo in his Onehunga home, where he had gone with Brown after the pair met at a bar. After attacking Brown, the dive master jammed the broken neck of the instrument down his elderly victim's throat. Brown later died in hospital when his life support was turned off. Ambach says he did not know Brown was gay, but was simply happy to have made a friend. He claims to have no memory of the killing. In one of the final uses of the "partial defence of provocation" or "gay panic defence", the jury acquitted Ambach of murder, finding him guilty of the lesser-charge of manslaughter. That was based on Ambach's defence stating that the physically frail Brown had made sexual advances towards the tourist, and possibly even tried to rape him. Defence lawyer Peter Kay said this triggered a “monstrous rage” in Ambach and caused him to lose control. Ambach's statement Ferdinand Ambach - NZ Herald The crucial part of a relatively long, forceful statement from Ambach at the Court of Appeal hearing in Wellington this afternoon was his claim his lawyers never gave him the option of admitting manslaughter. He says he would have pleaded guilty to the charge if given the choice. Ambach said he expressed no remorse during his trial under specific advice from his lawyer not to show any emotion. He said he was instructed in this way every morning. “I found it very hard to go through the trial like this,” he said. “I was and still am very sorry for causing Mr Brown's death and the suffering caused to Mr Brown's family.” “I take responsibility for my actions, but do not remember them.” Ambach said he was not homophobic and has never discriminated against anyone. “I am not an aggressive person. I do not resolve problems that arise in my life with violence.” He also spoke about the impact the killing and his subsequent jailing have had on his family, saying they are “going through hell, day in, day out”. Ambach also outlined in great detail the impact it's had on his own life, saying causing the death of another is a great burden to bear. The Rimutaka prison inmate complained about the difficulties of dealing with a foreign language, foreign food and the ‘lack of a satisfactory legal representative', all factors he said have ‘added to his suffering'. He added that he misses his family very much. “Emotionally I am broken. Thirty-two months here has been a huge amount of time. In 32 months I have not touched earth or grass . . . for someone whose world is nature this is very hard,” he said. “I am becoming a useless human wreck.” The adjournment The Court of Appeal judges, Justice Ellen France, Justice Gendall and Justice Courtenay, have adjourned Ambach's appeal. They have asked Crown lawyer Megan Inwood to look at the full Crown file to see whether there was anything relevant to making Ambach an offer around pleading guilty to manslaughter – and how any such offer may have been received. The judges instructed Ambach he has two options. The first is to speak with a lawyer to get advice about whether he wants to pursue his claim that he was not offered the chance to plead guilty to manslaughter, allowing his files to be looked up by waiving privilege. His alternative option is to write to his two previous lawyers saying they can disclose what, if anything, they told him about his ability to enter pleas. The appeal has been adjourned for six weeks. Jacqui Stanford - 4th August 2010