A gagging order has been issued against the Herald on Sunday, preventing it from publishing a story about the Kahui double-murder case.
The newspaper was set to publish a story today about a witness who gave evidence for the Crown in the murder trial of Chris Kahui, who
is accused of killing his three-month-old sons in June 2006.
However, when the defence and Crown were notified on Friday about the article, they took their concerns to Justice Venning who ordered the newspaper's reporter to appear before him for an emergency hearing in chambers.
This was yet another interlude in a day of high drama in Courtroom 15 of the High Court at Auckland where the Kahui case is about to enter its fifth week.
For legal reasons, the Herald on Sunday is prevented from publishing details of submissions or any other discussions had in chambers.
Justice Venning made an order banning the Herald on Sunday from running an article until the conclusion of the trial, which is expected in a fortnight.
The Crown has spent the past four weeks putting its case against Kahui, which relies largely on claims the injuries were inflicted within a very narrow timeframe, meaning the 23-year-old was the only one who could have committed the murders.
However, the defence - which opened its case on Friday - claims the twins' mother Macsyna King is the one responsible and has already produced a witness who testified that King told him she murdered her boys.
The witness, Eru Tuari, dated King after the death of the twins and told the court he recorded a conversation with his cellphone in which an upset King punched the wall and said, "Chris didn't do it, I did it".
But Crown prosecutor Richard Marchant has challenged Tuari's testimony, arguing that the cellphone recording never happened and the conversation he referred to amounted to no more than King saying Kahui did not kill the twins.
