A Californian man involved in a head-on crash that injured a Queenstown woman has successfully applied to have his name suppressed until his next court appearance.
The 73-year-old is charged with dangerous driving causing injury to Sara Duan in Frankton Rd on January 27.
Ms Duan suffered a spinal fracture and her car was written off after the crash, which occurred about 5am as she was driving to the hotel where she works as a chef.
At a hearing in the Queenstown District Court yesterday, the defendant’s counsel, Michael Walker, said reporting by two media organisations had caused hardship to the man and his family, who had been subject to "abuse, bullying and racism" online.
Comments on the online articles represented "one of the worst viral online attacks I’ve seen in my career", Mr Walker said.
"The impact of this reporting is extending well beyond the defendant. It’s bordering on harassment."
Some of the reporting had been inaccurate and unbalanced.
"It has very much been painted as a hit-and-run, but he didn’t run at all — he tried to offer assistance to the victim."
The defendant co-operated with police at the scene, including undergoing a breath test.
He and his wife flew to Auckland later that day, where they were stranded for two days because of disruption to flights caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
The police did not attempt to stop the couple from leaving the country, he said.
The defendant was not required to appear at yesterday’s hearing.
Judge Russell Walker said his initial reaction to the application was the "horse has bolted" because the defendant’s name and occupation had been widely reported.
However, his counsel had argued the application was necessary to protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial, and to stop the ongoing cyber-bullying.
It was the defendant’s first appearance, which meant a relatively low threshold had to be met to satisfy the court that publishing his name would cause undue hardship, Judge Walker said.
That threshold had been met, and he ordered the defendant’s name and former occupation be suppressed until his next appearance on April 24, and photos of the man and immediate family members should be taken down from online articles.
