A man accused of causing brain injuries to his 4-month-old son cried as he was found not guilty of most of the charges he faced.
Robert Haami Boynton, 39, of Matahi Valley, had been on trial in the High Court at Rotorua and the jury found him not guilty of most of the charges relating to violent offences against his baby son and his partner Ngarangi Wickliffe.
The jury found him not guilty of committing grievous bodily harm with intent against his son but could not reach a verdict on an alternative charge, added during the trial, of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard for his son's safety.
These related to an incident on April 28, 2011, when the baby was left with serious brain injuries.
Boynton was found not guilty of two charges of assaulting the baby with intent to injure and assault - relating to earlier incidents where it is alleged he slapped, shook and threw the little boy 2m on to a thin mattress.
He was also found not guilty of assaulting Ms Wickliffe with intent to injure and one charge of assaulting her, but found guilty of attempting to pervert the cause of justice by threatening her.
As the not guilty verdicts were announced in the courtroom, Boynton wept as members of his family in the public gallery clutched one another and also cried.
Boynton had earlier in the trial pleaded guilty to three charges of assaulting Ms Wickliffe.
The jury of 11 retired to consider its verdicts about 12.30pm on Thursday and returned at 4pm yesterday.
Three were majority 10-1 verdicts while the remainder were unanimous.
After Boynton was remanded, Justice Ailsa Duffy granted him 10 minutes to meet members of his family one at a time while supervised by security staff.
Each family member greeted Boynton with a hug and asmile.
Boynton was remanded in custody until October 12 for sentencing as he was already in prison for cannabis-related offences.
The Crown is expected to seek a retrial on the charge that the jury was unable to reach a verdicton.