A high profile sportsman facing charges of importing and possessing meth can't be named, despite losing name suppression.
The man, aged in his 30s, denied the charges in December 2019 and is facing trial later this year.
Last year he lost his bid for name supression but the ruling was appealed to the High Court at Auckland.
That appeal has also been dismissed, but Justice Rebecca Edwards granted him interim name suppression to allow him to seek leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
He has until early May to file a further appeal.
The man has previously argued the release of his name would affect his fair trial rights and could affect his future income.
The man’s lawyer, Greg Bradford, said the District Court judge “paid insufficient weight” to his client’s personal circumstances and too much weight elsewhere.
“It is my submission at this stage of proceedings that open justice needs to wait a little longer,” he told Justice Edwards.
Bradford also argued that social media plays a role in why the man’s suppression should stay.
Crown lawyer Jessica Pridgeon argued against the appeal.
“The starting point in a suppression hearing is that publication is the norm, suppression orders are made only in restricted circumstances and the threshold is high,” she said.
She argued there was nothing “out of the ordinary in this case”.
“In this particular case the points the appellant raises to support extreme hardship grounds are ones that can be made in almost all cases,” she said.
Pridgeon also said there was no error in the District Court’s earlier ruling.
The maximum penalty for possessing methamphetamine for supply is a life sentence.
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