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Home / New Zealand

DNA 'hit' brings historic rape case to Napier District Court

Hawkes Bay Today
20 Sep, 2017 08:50 PM4 mins to read

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A man is standing trial in the Napier District Court for a historic rape after his DNA profile was linked to that of the unsolved crime in the National DNA database. Photo / File

A man is standing trial in the Napier District Court for a historic rape after his DNA profile was linked to that of the unsolved crime in the National DNA database. Photo / File

A man accused of raping a young woman in Hawke's Bay more than one decade ago is standing trial in the Napier District Court.

Shaun Rangatu Tehuna, 37, faces one count of rape after an alleged incident in 2003.

Yesterday the jury heard the woman, aged 20 when she reported the alleged incident, had been heavily drinking at a friend's 21st birthday party when she was tucked into bed by a friend in the early hours of the morning.

Questioned by crown prosecutor Steve Manning, the friend said the woman was incredibly intoxicated and was put to bed fully clothed with a blanket over her body.

He said returned to the room five minutes later to help someone with a torch search for their bag when he noticed something strange.

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"As [she] was shining the torch we noticed feet out the bottom of the bed [the woman] was in . . . they were underneath the blanket."

He said the positioning of the feet indicated the person was on top of the woman, and there were shorts around their ankles, but he could see no movement.

"I remember thinking it was strange and I was, I suppose, a little shocked and surprised about it and confused."

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The jury heard his concerns for her grew, knowing the state she was in when he put her to bed, and he returned to the room again just minutes later to find the woman alone.

"I guess that's when it all started clicking into place and I realised what had happened."

She was shocked to learn the information the following day, he said.

"Shock and confusion, I suppose, would be the best way of describing it . . . she was wondering why she woke up with no pants on."

Testifying yesterday, the woman said she felt "shocked and scared and violated" as she became aware of what had happened.

The court heard she called her parents who took her to the police station to make a statement, and then a medical centre where she was forensically examined by a doctor.

The DNA of an unknown male was located in her semen-stained underwear and a cervical swab, although it didn't match any individuals stored on the National DNA database at the time.

In July 2015, more than 12 years later, Tehuna was arrested in Whanganui and a sample of his DNA was obtained and analysed.

Yesterday Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) forensic scientist Susan Vintiner was called as a crown witness and confirmed there had effectively been "a hit", as described by Mr Manning, in the National DNA Databank.

She told the court Tehuna could not be excluded from the DNA samples taken from the woman in 2003, and that in one instance the DNA profile detected was "at least one million million times more likely" to have originated from him.

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The jury heard profiles of interest deriving from unsolved crimes were loaded into a Databank and compared to other DNA profiles on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

"When the numerical code of a crime corresponds to that of an individual or another crime sample then that information is outputted and the scientist is alerted to the fact that there is a link," she said.

The DNA evidence brought forward in this particular case provided "extremely strong scientific support" that the DNA found in the woman's underwear belonged to the defendant, she said.

Yesterday the woman told the court she had never met or heard of the man in her life.

Under cross-examination yesterday by Tehuna's defence lawyer, Roger Eagles, her recollections of the night's events were questioned in light of her alcohol consumption.

She told the court she had consumed numerous glasses of wine and beer throughout the night and described herself as "intoxicated" .

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A friend had earlier told the court the woman was slurring her words and couldn't walk without assistance.

However, she told the court she was in a relationship and was in no way looking for a sexual partner.

The trial before Judge Tony Adeane is continuing and it is expected the jury will retire to deliberate this afternoon.

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