Overview
- Brenton Tarrant, 35, appeared by video before the Wellington Court of Appeal seeking permission to appeal, arguing that harsh pretrial confinement left him unfit to enter his guilty plea.
- He told the court he felt compelled to plead and lacked the mental state to make informed decisions at the time, according to reports of the hearing.
- The filing came after the legal deadline, so the Court of Appeal scheduled a five-day hearing expected to conclude Friday to address the late bid.
- If the court refuses to annul the guilty plea, a later hearing this year would examine his sentencing appeal; if it grants the request, the case would be returned to the High Court for a new trial.
- Tarrant pleaded guilty in 2020 and received life imprisonment without parole, the toughest sentence in New Zealand since abolition of the death penalty, for the 2019 attacks that killed 51 and wounded 40.