Judge steers a direct course

EUGENE BINGHAM explains what happens when important trial questions are left hanging.

Silver-haired Justice Heron enters the High Court at Wellington each morning with a ritual.

The traditional bow to the seven lawyers before him is followed by another ceremony.

"Good morning, Mr Foreman, members of the jury," he says with a warm smile.

It is the one time of each day in the Scott Watson double murder trial that he always commands centre stage. Justice Heron is seldom heard throughout the proceedings, though it is he, of course, who controls the court.

For the most part, it is left to the witnesses, together with crown and defence counsel, to engage the attention of the 12 jurors.

But in the past five weeks Justice Heron has become known for his knack of asking questions that remain hanging in the air after a witness has finished being examined.

It was he, for instance, who asked the question that clarified the relationship between Olivia Hope and Ben Smart.

"Were Ben and Olivia boyfriend and girlfriend?" he asked of one of Ben's friends who replied that, yes, they had been in the year before they disappeared.

Such a question does not necessarily strike at the heart of the facts of the case against Watson. But it would have been a question burning in the minds of the 12 jurors. Justice Heron simply clarified the matter for them.

At other times, he has quizzed witnesses on why they have answered questions in a particular way.

A Christchurch student called to the witness box this week had given testimony about a conversation he heard between a Furneaux Lodge party-goer who introduced himself as Scott and a group of young women.

Edward Sundstrum said the man had used sexually explicit language, though he could not remember exactly what words were said.

The judge pressed him.

Justice Heron: What did he say, what sort of words did he use?

Mr Sundstrum: No, I can't remember.

Justice Heron: How do you know they were sexually explicit?

Mr Sundstrum: I remember at the time that it was not very nice things he was saying to the girls.

Justice Heron: I can understand your reaction, but why can't you tell us what the words were?

Mr Sundstrum: Because it's so long ago, I just can't remember.

Justice Heron: Were you in any doubt as to what was intended?

Mr Sundstrum: No.

Through the day, Justice Heron is a picture of concentration as he listens to the evidence, alert in his duty of ensuring a fair trial for Watson, who denies murdering the young couple.

One element of a fair trial is the media coverage - something this case has received plenty of. And an emerging theme has been the role of media footage of Watson and his boat before he was put on trial.

Several times this week, witnesses have been cross-examined about their recollections of particular det-ails by Watson's lawyers.

Lynette Hall, who had given evidence about noting the name "Caravel" on a buoy attached to Watson's yacht, faced questioning from def-ence counsel Bruce Davidson.

"Did you ever, some time in early or mid-January, see television news that showed close-ups of a lifebuoy with the name Caravel on it?" Mr Davidson asked Mrs Hall. "Do you think it's possible that you have got this name Caravel on a lifebuoy from something you saw on television?"

Mrs Hall did not think this was possible, adamant that she saw the name while she was on her boat in the Marlborough Sounds on New Year's Eve, 1997.

"I'm telling you what I saw, what I'm certain of."

Mr Davidson: Are you prepared to accept that it's possible you saw it in the media some time later and you just supplanted it?

Mrs Hall: No, I'm not prepared to accept it.

Others have said they saw Watson on television coverage and recog-nised him.

Phillippa Holstein said she had not told the police about an alleged encounter with a man resembling Watson at the time of her first statement on February 11 last year bec-ause she did not think it was relevant. She made a second statement in April this year.

By that stage, she confirmed, she had seen Watson on television a number of times.

"The first time I saw him, I recognised it was the same person."