A Wanaka artist who denies being a person is expected to defend a charge of assault at a judge-alone trial in April.
Jane Louise Kellahan (49) was forced to appear in the Queenstown District Court on Tuesday, a day after her voluntary appearance on Monday.
At her first appearance, Judge Russell Walker issued a warrant for her arrest — despite her being in the courtroom — after a bizarre exchange between the two.
On Tuesday, for the second day in a row, Kellahan refused to go to the dock when called, telling Judge Walker: "That sounds like my name, Your Honour, but I want to see it in writing."
Judge Walker told her that despite her denials of being the person named on the charge sheet, "it’s clear that that’s you".
Based on a document before the court, she was claiming to have acted either in self-defence or defence of another person, he said.
Kellahan, who is charged with assault in Wanaka on January 3, then repeated she would not stand in the dock.
"I’m not a vessel.
"I’m a living being on the land."
Judge Walker: "You are a living being, which means you are a person."
He entered a plea of not guilty, telling her the matter would go to a hearing at which the complainant would give evidence "and you can have your say as well".
They would have to agree to disagree about whether she was a person.
Kellahan then asked him to call her ‘Jane Louise’.
"I’m not a dead, legal fiction."
Judge Walker remanded her on bail until the trial on April 28.
- After a judge-alone trial in the Queenstown District Court on December 15, 2021, Kellahan was found not guilty on the assault charge.
