Hung jury in Mount Maunganui home invasion trial

Chaliedene Taueki and Maninoa Vincent Felise have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery and a charge of aggravated burglary. Photo / File

The jury assessing the fate of two men accused of being involved in a Mount Maunganui home invasion has not been able to reach a decision.

The trial of Chaliedene Taueki and Maninoa Vincent Felise at Tauranga District Court resulted in a hung jury today. Maunganui home invasion trial closing arguments heard
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Taueki and Felise each pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated robbery and a charge of aggravated burglary and were the subject of a two-week trial, which ended this afternoon. They will now be remanded on bail until their next appearance on March 26.

In the early hours of July 20, 2018, a group of masked and armed men used a sledgehammer to smash into a Valley Rd home. They held the home's occupants at gunpoint and demanded drugs and money and fled when police arrived.

Throughout the trial, the court was told the attack was a case of mistaken identity.

The Crown accused Taueki and Felise of being involved but the defence said the men were not in Tauranga when the event happened.

This morning, the jury of five men and seven women heard Judge Thomas Ingram sum up the case, following closing addresses from the defence and Crown yesterday.Judge Ingram told jurors to ensure they considered the evidence against each man separately.

"Don't stray ... Some of the evidence is mutual but some are certainly separate and you need to consider each case as separate."

Judge Ingram said the case came down to establishing whether Taueki or Felise were part of that group that used the sledgehammer to break into that home to create "pure terror".

"The real question is were they in there? If you're not satisfied they were, that's the end of the matter. If you believe they were, [likewise]."

Judge Ingram referred to evidence produced to the court over the past two weeks, such as DNA traces on items found at the scene, which was presented during the trial as circumstantial but compelling.

"The Crown says there are many things that link Mr Felise and Mr Taueki to the case. The Crown says there's a big picture here. The Crown says this is clear there might be a couple of pieces of the puzzle missing but the case is clear.

"But the defence says the Crown would say that but the missing pieces are too important and make the overall picture unclear. There are too many missing pieces for you to be sure of who entered the house and who didn't."

Judge Ingram also reminded the jury to only consider the evidence produced in court over the past two weeks and not to be distracted by "red herrings" or sympathy for either the defendants or victims.

"This is a trial by jury, not a trial by dispute. You make the decision."

The jury retired to consider their verdicts before lunch, returning just before 5pm.