A baby was in a car when a man was shot by one of the passengers, a court has heard.
Former Black Power member Edwin Dale "Jack" Te Haara died a few minutes after receiving a single gunshot wound to the neck in a driveway on January 17.
Witnesses yesterday told the Rotorua District Court the 37-year-old had been fighting with a couple in a green Mitsubishi car parked in the driveway and tried to wrestle a gun wrapped in a T-shirt off a man in the front seat before the vehicle sped away.
The witnesses said a woman was driving and a baby was in the back seat.
The Rotorua couple accused of Mr Te Haara's murder were tearful and held a Bible and each other's hands when they appeared in the court for the depositions hearing.
Thomas Tama Koroheke Pira, 33, and Emily Louise Blackburn, 19, pleaded not guilty to joint charges of murder and unlawful possession of a sawn-off pistol.
Lawyers for the couple conceded there was a prima facie case to answer and they were committed for trial.
Crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon said there was antagonism between Pira and Mr Te Haara but the reason for it was unclear.
She said Pira had been heard yelling, "I'm going to kill you", "I'm going to shoot you" and other variations of these phrases as the Mitsubishi fled the driveway in Gordon Rd.
When Pira and Blackburn were arrested six days later at separate houses in Te Awamutu, Pira told police he had needed the gun to protect himself, Blackburn and their child, as well as another man whom Mr Te Haara was seeking.
Pira said a struggle had occurred between him and Mr Te Haara, who was standing beside the car, and the gun must have gone off accidentally.
"He said he didn't even realise the gun had gone off," Ms Gordon said.
Blackburn had told police the gun belonged to Mr Te Haara and they had not had a gun in the car.
Three witnesses, two of whom knew Pira and Blackburn, also gave evidence.
The two justices of the peace presiding over the hearing suppressed the trio's names because of fears for their safety.
The first witness said he saw that Pira had a gun wrapped in a T-shirt between his legs in the car. Mr Te Haara approached along Gordon Rd and pushed the witness aside.
A few minutes later, the witness saw Mr Te Haara leaning into the car and punching Pira, who he said was trying to protect himself.
The witness got a call from Pira about five minutes after the car sped away, during which the accused said, "I think I shot him".
The witness told Pira when he called a second time not long afterwards that he was "freaking out".
"I told him not to ring my phone again, that I couldn't have any contact with him," the witness said.
The second witness received a call from Blackburn, also about five minutes after the Mitsubishi fled. The witness said she thought Blackburn knew what had happened and described her as "shaken and worried".
"I just said to her it might be best if she left town for a couple of days," the woman said.
Asked why she had made that suggestion, the woman replied, "Because she had a baby and I was protecting her."
The third witness told the court that Pira was more violent and aggressive than Mr Te Haara during the fight.
Pira was further remanded in custody and Blackburn on bail for a callover in the High Court on June 22.
The couple then stood cuddling and kissing in the dock and a sobbing Blackburn blew kisses to Pira as he was led away.
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