Tauranga murder trial jury to reconvene today

Hyacin Eruera

A jury is to reconvene this morning to consider its verdict in the trial of three people accused of murdering 19-year-old Takena Tiepa-Ranapia.

After five hours of deliberation in the trial of Hiakita (George) Eruera, his wife Hyacin Eruera and Paul Taki, the jury was sent home for the night by Justice Christian Whata.

The three accused are defending charges of murdering Mr Tiepa-Ranapia on November 30, 2014 and a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, a charge relating to the alleged stabbing earlier that night of Brooklyn Ormsby-Ratahi.

George Eruera told the court on Wednesday he had likely killed Mr Tiepa-Ranapia, saying he had grabbed a knife and had punched someone while he had the knife in his hand.

Hyacin Eruera's lawyer Tony Balme asked the jury at yesterday's hearings to return not guilty verdicts for his client, who he said was only the "designated driver"on the night Mr Tiepa-Ranapia was killed.

The fundamental issue for the jury was whether Hyacin Eruera knew her husband had a knife, Mr Balme said.

Her daughter Paris Taite had come home that night distraught, saying she had been attacked, and George Eruera called Taki so they could go and "get some answers".

"Matters progressed very rapidly from there," Mr Balme said.

"Mrs Eruera as it turns out is the licensed driver so she has to drive the car. Within a very short period of time, the parties are in the car, Mr Taki gets picked up and the car is driven by Mrs Eruera to the Welcome Bay area."

CCTV cameras had recorded the car turning into Welcome Bay Rd at 12.19am and returning the same way at 12.27am, leaving seven-and-a-half minutes for the confrontation with Brooklyn Ormsby-Ratahi on Ohauiti Rd and the drive to the Mansfield St address where Mr Tiepa-Ranapia was stabbed.

"That's indicative of how extraordinarily compressed the timeframe of all these things is. That becomes relevant when you try to determine what happened on the roadside on Ohauiti Rd."

Hyacin Eruera remained in the driver's seat of the car during the encounter with Mr Ormsby-Ratahi, Mr Balme said.

He said the main issue for the jury to consider when deciding Hyacin Eruera's involvement was whether she knew what would happen by taking her husband and Taki to Mansfield St after the Ohauiti Rd incident.

No one knew whether she had seen anything happen or in what detail, Mr Balme said.

"You just can't say she knew Mr Eruera had a knife."

Mr Balme said it was the Crown's obligation to prove guilt, the defence did not have to prove innocence.

"The defendant doesn't have to prove a single thing.

"The Crown has to prove that she has formed a common plan with Mr Eruera to carry out violent retribution ... The Crown is really asking you to say in the minute or two it takes to get to Mansfield St, the common plan was formed."

Mr Balme said Hyacin Eruera had been caught up in events not of her making.

Justice Whata summed up the Crown and defence positions for the jury before they retired at 1.20pm.

He said if the jury did not find George Eruera guilty of murder, he must be found guilty of manslaughter as he had admitted he was guilty of killing Mr Tiepa-Ranapia.

Hyacin Eruera and Taki's verdicts would depend on whether the jury found they knew George Eruera intended to seriously injure or kill Mr Tiepa-Ranapia and were therefore part of a "common plan".