The new indictment followed unsuccessful applications by counsel the previous day to have the men discharged.
The Crown alleged the pair visited the stores, operated by Indian nationals, one morning in February to confiscate K2 (legally for sale at the time). Their aim was to eliminate competition from the cannabis market.
Silent CCTV footage showed both events. But while neither man appeared to be acting in an explicitly violent or threatening way, they used subtle threats and their intimidating appearance to collectively achieve their means, prosecutor Clayton Walker told the jury.
If they were genuinely concerned about the availability of K2, they would have gone to the police or at least handed in the confiscated stock.
Suggestions by defence counsel that the footage showed the pair's exchanges with shop owners as "hunky dory", were wrong, Mr Walker said.
Mahia Avenue store personnel shook hands with Joseph because they wanted the pair to leave and feared the incident escalating.
At the McLean Street dairy, John Gemmell leaned over the counter as if he had a right to do so and insisted a box he thought might contain K2 be opened.
Joseph Gemmell was not the peacemaker that defence counsel claimed. When his brother got nowhere with his demands at McLean Street, Joseph wanted to leave, which just meant he gave up quicker, Mr Walker said.
Counsel Tiana Epati closed Joseph Gemmell's case by saying store owners were confronted by an upset father and an unwitting brother, not two robbers, she said.
Joseph Gemmell found himself unwittingly in the middle of a debate about a product that had afterall, caused nationwide controversy.
Gang members were fathers, brothers and uncles too. They too had views on issues and concerns for their children.
The Indian storeowners, being so culturally different from Maori, might have had difficulty interpreting the Gemmell's actions and intentions, she said.
In his closing address, counsel Adam Simperingham acting for John Gemmell, said the security footage did not show a robbery at the Mahia Ave Store - there were no balaclavas, no disguise, no dishonesty or banging of fists. Customers happily came and went.
John Gemmell had not been violent but was frustrated by what was going on in his community. He was honest about his motivation later telling police it was lucky his brother had been there or he "would have started smacking heads in".
The suggestion he go to police was unreasonable given he was a well-known gang member, Mr Simperingham said.
"I wonder what the police would have done about it anyway.
"John Gemmell is obviously no angel but angels do not have a monopoly on the truth."
- Gisborne Herald
