It was good luck a man survived being shot in the stomach after a dispute between two men over a girl, a jury heard.
Joel Maikara Amohanga, 30, appeared in the High Court at Invercargill yesterday on the first day of his trial where he faces four charges including attemptedmurder, threatening to kill, assault and unlawful possession of a firearm at Invercargill.
The charges relate to an incident at a Brown St house, in Strathern, on November 9, 2019 when Amohanga allegedly shot the victim in the stomach.
Crown prosecutor Mary-Jane Thomas, in her opening address, said Amohanga went to the address with the intention to kill the victim.
"The Crown case is that he went there to shoot and to kill — and indeed [he] did shoot but did not kill [the victim]", she said.
The Crown believed the incident was "over a girl", she said. There was jealousy, the woman was friendly with both men and as a result an altercation resulted in the attempt to kill the victim, she said.
Thomas said the Crown suspected the victim was alive due to "pure good luck" as he was "side on" when the gun was fired.
She said the jury would hear from 25 witnesses but the victim and the woman would not give evidence.