Kim Dotcom spends night at local residents' association

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Dotcom’s night time community meet

3News NZ

Kim Dotcom arrived tonight for the Coatesville Ratepayers and Residents Association meeting under heavy security

Kim Dotcom arrived tonight for the Coatesville Ratepayers and Residents Association meeting under heavy security

By Elizabeth Puranam

It's been a big day for internet tycoon Kim Dotcom.

The raid on his Coatesville mansion back in January has been ruled unlawful, creating a huge legal headache for the New Zealand police and the FBI.

The larger-than-life internet mogul could have been forgiven for taking the night off to celebrate his legal victory. Instead he was winning over the neighbours at a meeting of the Coatesville Ratepayers and Residents Association.

“[The meeting is] something about how much they like having Dotcom in the neighbourhood,” says John Mclean of Rodney’s local board.

Earlier in the day, Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled the search warrants, which saw police helicopters swoop on Dotcom's mansion in January, seizing luxury cars, art works, bank accounts and internet servers, were invalid.

She also ruled that the police relying on those warrants made the search and seizure illegal.

Jonathan Krebs from the Law Society says the ruling could have a huge impact on the rest of the case.

“Evidence in court has to be admissible, and to be admissible it has to be fairly obtained, and if it has been obtained pursuant to unlawful warrants, that's a pretty good steer that the evidence may well be unfairly obtained and shouldn't be admitted,” he says.

Clones of Megaupload hard drives seized have been sent to the FBI. This too was ruled illegal.

Dotcom's lawyers are now asking that no more copies be allowed to leave the country. And they want those already with US authorities returned.

They also want back anything seized that's not relevant to the case and a review from an independent barrister.

Dotcom arrived tonight for the Coatesville Ratepayers and Residents Association meeting under heavy security. 3 News understands he's under strict instructions from his lawyers not to speak to media.

He spoke at the meeting tonight, but asked that no media be allowed in and the organisers enforced that request.

Dotcom's only comment has been via statement, he and his co-defendants saying they're very happy with the judgement and are considering their next steps.

He left his lawyer in San Francisco to do the talking.

Justice Winkelmann will hear from both legal teams next week.

3 News

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Comments

4/07/2012 1:17:04 p.m.

Cathy wrote:

DAVID. You say Paul gave an 'Idiot response' but by your description, the only 'Idiot response' I can find is yours. Firstly, to suggest John Key is a convicted criminal like Bernard Madoff is not true, but I doubt John key could be bothered by such comments from anyone such as you. Also, to compare Madoff to Kim Dotcom is equally 'Idiotic' as the only incident Dotcom was involved in was so minor the German court system had the 'offence' wiped from his court records and he now has a completely clean slate in his original home country, and as a result, here in NZ as well. Most people I know welcome migrants with positive things to contribute to our country and Kim Dotcom is included in this category. Personally, I welcome the Dotcom family to continue to be part of our country for as long as they wish. I enjoy Dotcom's sense of humour and genuine desire to contribute positively to our society.

30/06/2012 1:45:16 a.m.

Brett wrote:

Why are we just blaming the police for the search and seizure of his assets? The warrants were written by the Police but they were signed off by a District Court Judge!

29/06/2012 3:30:22 p.m.

Paul wrote:

Once a criminal always a criminal - is that how it is David? Your personal prejudice seems to be if they're wealthy they're evil mmkay. His previous convictions were for low-level offending that didn't involve harming anyone and only drew probation and fines for punishment. He has paid his 'debt to society' for previous crimes, has been horrendously treated by our police and the powers-that-be, yet you still want to persecute him?

29/06/2012 1:06:02 p.m.

David wrote:

While I do agree that the police went far too far with Kim Dotcom... there still remains the fact that Kim Dotcom was a criminal before any of this happened with criminal convictions for insider trading and fraud. Is this really the type of person we want in New Zealand?. He's wealthy so we overlook his criminal history?.

29/06/2012 12:24:46 p.m.

Baza wrote:

As a previous Megauploader I'm sorry you are being put though this ordeal. I wish you and your family well.

29/06/2012 12:24:38 p.m.

Baza wrote:

As a previous Megauploader I'm sorry you are being put though this ordeal. I wish you and your family well.

29/06/2012 10:32:41 a.m.

Richard wrote:

How stupid were our Police and Government? I can smell all the zero's on the law suit now!

29/06/2012 8:38:54 a.m.

Jim Seaview wrote:

Quote: "Earlier in the day, Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled the search warrants, which saw police helicopters swoop on Dotcom's mansion in January, seizing luxury cars, art works, bank accounts and internet servers, were invalid.

She also ruled that the police relying on those warrants made the search and seizure illegal."



Well done Mr Dotcom and great to see you back with your local neighbors again.

Lets us hope that the NZ Police with their very substantial resources can return every single item that 78 police removed, with the same gusto and speed that they illegally seized your possessions.

Welcome home.