After months of delays, not guilty pleas have been entered on behalf of a 31-year-old Dairy Flat man accused of causing the death of another man in East Auckland.
The defendant, who continues to have name suppression, was excused from attending the High Court at Auckland hearing today as defence lawyer Brandyn Gloyn entered the not guilty pleas on his behalf for manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Justice Sally Fitzgerald accepted the pleas and set a trial date for November next year.
The defendant was initially charged only with unlawful possession of a firearm after Jonathan Meroyn Mokoha was shot at a Dalton St home in Pt England just before midnight on April 7. The manslaughter charge was added three weeks later.
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Mokoha died at the scene. Police said previously the two were known to each other.
Authorities allege in court documents the defendant committed manslaughter by "a combination" of unlawfully having a firearm and "omitting without lawful excuse to take reasonable care to avoid such danger".
Manslaughter carries a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment.
During three previous hearing dates, the defendant deferred entering a plea. But after so many delays, one needed to be entered on his behalf today, Justice Fitzgerald said.
