Manurewa homicide: Deemed not guilty plea entered on reluctant defendant Maui Warahi’s behalf

Manslaughter defendant Maui Warahim, also known as Jay Maui Wallace, appeared again today in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / NZME

A deemed not guilty plea was entered today on behalf of a manslaughter defendant from South Auckland, who tried unsuccessfully for a second consecutive week to convince a judge he is being unlawfully detained.

Maui Warahi, a 48-year-old who also goes by the name Jay Maui Wallace, frequently interrupted Justice Sally Fitzgerald today as he was asked how he wished to plead to the manslaughter charge.

He was initially charged with wounding with intent to injure in April after a 60-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries following an alleged attack in Manurewa. The charge was later upgraded to manslaughter after the 60-year-old died in hospital.

During his first appearance in the High Court at Auckland last week, Warahi fired his court-appointed lawyer and was returned to custody without yet entering a plea. Representing himself today, he declined again to enter a plea.

“That’s misleading and falsifying a document,” he said as Justice Fitzgerald instead entered a deemed not guilty plea for him and set a trial date for August 2024.

The judge urged him to seek legal advice from his newly-appointed standby lawyer but acknowledged it was ultimately his decision. The defendant declined.

“Stop being so aggressive, Maui,” Fitzgerald added a short time later as Warahi again attempted to interrupt her. “We’re trying to deal with you respectfully...”

She described his falsifying documents claim as “nonsense, frankly”.

“You have a serious charge before you and my job is to ensure you have a fair trial,” she said.

Warahi is an adherent of the Sovereign Citizen movement, a fringe ideology that emerged in the United States in the 1970s in which defendants claim the state has no authority over them.

He told the judge today he would seek judicial review of the deemed not-guilty plea. But he also thanked Fitzgerald as he left the courtroom, ordered to return in August for a case review.