Jury breaks for night in baby death trial

Trent Owen Ngaruhe Hapuku, 23, is on trial on a charge of manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend's five-month-old son. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

A High Court jury in Napier will tomorrow continue deliberations seeking a verdict in a Hastings man's second trial on a charge of manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend's five-month-old son.

The jury hearing the case against 23-year-old Trent Owen Ngaruhe Hapuku retired to begin its debate just before 2pm today, and was sent home for the night when no decision had been reached by 5.45pm.

The key issue are whether anyone else could have caused the death of baby Mikara Ranui Darius Reti, who was pronounced deceased in Hawke's Bay Hospital on the night of January 11 last year, soon after Hapuku arrived carrying the child in a blanket and accompanied by baby's mother Jamie Reti.

Justice Forrest Miller told the jury of seven men and five women that for Hapuku to be found guilty the Crown had to have proven "he was the killer," that there was an assault committed by him and it was a "substantial and operating" cause of death, although it did not have to be intended to harm the boy.

The had to exclude the "reasonable possibility" that it was anyone else, the Judge said.

Death resulted from severe internal bleeding after the splitting of his liver by what the Crown says was an injury which must have happened in the previous hour to 90 minutes before arriving at hospital.

During that time Hapuku was in charge of the child in a sleepout at the Flaxmere home of the boy's grandparents, but, the court was told, had spent much of the day playing a PlayStation game.

Returning to the sleepout from bathing and feeding an older son inside the house, Ms Reti became concerned when she noticed the baby's changed complexion and lack of response, after Hapuku said her son had vomited during her absence from the room.

While there was no evidence of any assault by Hapuku, Crown prosecutor Steve Manning suggested he could have reacted in frustration with the child while being more focused on trying to "clock" a PlayStation game.

Defence counsel Eric Forster called expert rebuttal evidence to challenge the Crown specialists, and suggest the act which led to the injuries could have occurred several hours earlier. Mr Forster said the other possibilities had not been ruled-out.

In a 40-minute summary on the sixth day of the trial, Justice Miller also warned the jury not to take any inferences from the fact that it was a retrial.