Juliette Anne Gerbes can restart her life after two High Court trials. Photo / Glenn Taylor
Juliette Anne Gerbes can finally "restart her life" after a not guilty verdict brought tears of relief and ended two "bloody hard" and emotional High Court trials.
After deliberating for a little more than an hour at the High Court in Napier yesterday, the jury found the 21-year-old not guilty of fatally stabbing her boyfriend, Christopher Robin Jones.
It was the second time the young woman was forced to endure a manslaughter trial after a hung jury could not decide in February if she was criminally responsible for her 22-year-old partner's death. He bled to death from a stab wound in the early hours of October 13, 2012, in Hastings.
Calm and composed throughout the trial, Miss Gerbes broke down in tears as the verdict was read and Justice Lowell Goddard said "you are free to go".
A large group of her anxious supporters sitting in the public gallery were also overwhelmed.
However, a family member of Mr Jones yelled abuse and further accusations from the gallery as Miss Gerbes embraced her parents and ended an arduous two years.
Outside court, Miss Gerbes' mother said the trial was fair and had told both sides of the story. "It's been bloody hard on her," she added.
Miss Gerbes' lawyer, Eric Forster, said he was "really pleased" with the verdict after a long process from the first trial to the second.
"The family and my client handled themselves with real dignity throughout.
"Juliette co-operated with the police from the very beginning, giving them three extensive interviews, and I'm fairly confident that all the information that needed to be before the jury was there - I'm very pleased for Juliette, who hopefully can now restart her life."
He admitted he was not surprised the jury in the first trial could not come to a unanimous decision.
"I think that the information before the jury was a lot clearer this time and not only was it shorter but it was also put in a form that was easier for them to assess the real issues.
"Obviously the family have suffered a great deal and they will undoubtedly perceive this as more suffering on their behalf, but ultimately it's the process.
"Sometimes verdicts can't agree and that's just a part of the dynamic, lots of us when we have discussions can't agree about things and it's only natural that 12 jurors could not come to a conclusion on the first trial."
Justice Goddard told the jury the case had revolved around two young lives, who, along with their families' lives, have been forever changed.
"This is a tragic case. A young man has been killed and a young woman is on trial for manslaughter," she said before the 12 jurors retired.
On the second day of the three-day trial forensic pathologist and expert Crown witness Martin Sage said the single stab wound resulted in "torrential bleeding" and an unrecognisable blood pressure when Mr Jones reached hospital.
Mr Sage, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Mr Jones, physically depicted to the court how the 15cm wound, at a 20-degree angle, cut two major blood vessels just below the victim's ribs.
"The emergency staff and surgeons performed a heroic job to try and keep this man alive ... there were enormous amounts of blood transfusion."
The night Mr Jones died, Miss Gerbes said the pair had been fighting before he threatened to go to Cru Bar in Hastings to find a woman to sleep with.
After attempting to lock Mr Jones out of the house, she said her partner pushed her into a corner in the kitchen.
"He was trying to be the big man, the tough guy," she told police.
"I just picked [the knife] up to scare him. Calling him out on his act or to shut him up.
"It was like throwing a cup of water in his face ... It could have been a spoon that I would have held to his face."
The jury agreed with Miss Gerbes, who said Mr Jones had inexplicably grabbed her hands and pulled the knife towards him.
"There was so much blood and I'm freaking out and that's not what I intended when I picked the knife up."
The Crown's case, led by prosecutor Clayton Walker, was largely based on Mr Sage's expert evidence and the location of the wound inflicted on Mr Jones.
He said the wound on the young man's left side was inconsistent with a weapon being wielded in Miss Gerbes' left hand, as she had said and the fatal blow was a result of Miss Gerbes thrusting with her right and dominant hand.