Mike Antunovic

Ivan Michael "Mike" Antunovic is a New Zealand criminal defence lawyer. Antunovic is one of New Zealand's most experienced jury trial lawyers, and has appeared in some of New Zealand's most high-profile criminal cases.

Mike Antunovic
Born
Ivan Michael Antunovic
Alma materVictoria University, Faculty of Law
OccupationCriminal defence lawyer
Years active1979 – present
Websiteantunoviclaw.co.nz

High-profile cases

Olivia Hope and Ben Smart murder

He is best known for co-counselling[1] the 13-week trial of Scott Watson, who was charged with the double murder of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope on New Year's Eve 1997. Watson was found guilty of the murders. Mike Antunovic and Greg King unsuccessfully appealed the case to the Privy Council. The case is one of New Zealand's most famous murder trials.[2]

Death of Janet Moses by family members using exorcism

In 2007, 22-year-old Janet Moses died after members of her family poured water into her eyes and down her throat at a Wainuiomata flat. Six women and three men plead not guilty in the High Court at Wellington to manslaughter. Mike Antunovic argued that instead of trying to commit a criminal offence, the defendants were in reality trying to help Moses. After 17 hours of deliberation on 12 June 2009, the jury returned guilty of manslaughter verdicts for five of the family members.[3]

Other notable trials
  • Antunovic successfully defended David Bourke, accused of murdering his brother.[4]
  • Antunovic defended Stephen Hudson in a murder trial that was unusual as it was one of the few New Zealand cases where no body has been found.[5]
  • Autunovic is one of the last New Zealand lawyers to run the partial defence of provocation.[6]

National name suppression controversy

In 2009 Antunovic represented a police recruit who was accused of rape. The trial was aborted before a verdict was reached. The recruit's name was made publicly available and had detrimental impacts on his career.[7] The case is notable in New Zealand as it sparked a national debate about the availability of name suppression and the application of the Bill of Rights to a defendant who has yet to be found guilty.[8]

Further name suppression controversy occurred when right-wing blogger Cameron Slater, the son of former National Party President John Slater,[9] repeatedly defied court orders by illegally identifying several high-profile New Zealanders protected by name suppression orders. Antunovic spoke to the national media and condemned Slater's actions.[10] On 14 September 2010 Cameron was convicted of eight counts of breaching name suppression orders and one count of identifying a victim in a sex case.[11]

Current practise

Antunovic runs a criminal law practice with his daughter Sarah Antunovic out of Wellington, New Zealand.

gollark: > the idea that we need to do better than someone else at what they did to get more recognition or money than themI mean, you don't, you can do... different things, if people prefer them.
gollark: Although I only ever ended up writing something like one nontrivial Rust program.
gollark: I mostly end up thinking the same thing, which is why my complex stuff is primarily done in TypeScript, but for things when performance matters I do use Rust.
gollark: For some stuff, probably.
gollark: Well, C(++) has better compatibility, but Rust has saner build systems and does not have C(++)'s near-total lack of safety.

References
  1. crime.co.nz The powerhouse legal teams involved in the trial of Scott Watson Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  2. crime.co.nz Operation TAM - One of NZ's highest profile investigations Retrieved 4 June 2011
  3. "Anger over manslaughter verdicts". One News / NZPA. 12 June 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  4. Marcus Lush "Mike Autunovic successfully defended David Bourke against murder - Radio Interview". 10 November 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2011
  5. "Defence urges jury not to convict out of pity". Television New Zealand. NZPA. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  6. "Man guilty of wife's murder". Television New Zealand. NZPA. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  7. "Calls for name suppression for rape accused". One News. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  8. "Mud Sticks". Victoria University. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  9. "Internet warrior". Sunday Star Times. 12 July 2009.
  10. "Blogger breaks suppression order - again". Stuff.co.nz. NZPA. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  11. Francis, Clio (14 September 2010). "Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater guilty". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
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