Jury retires in trial of teen charged with murder

The teenager charged with killing Haumoana man Mark Geoffrey Beale (pictured) in February this year is standing trial in the High Court at Napier this week. Photo/Supplied.

The jury in the trial of a teenager accused of murdering Haumoana man Mark Geoffrey Beale has begun deliberating.

Johnnie Puna, 19, is on trial in the High Court at Napier accused of murdering 45-year-old Beale who died in hospital after he was found with critical injuries near his home in the seaside settlement on Waitangi Day.

On Monday the court heard Puna and Beale had been drinking together after meeting on Haumoana beach near Beale's home on the evening of February 5.

The pair, who were sharing Beale's home brew vodka, were returning from Beale's home with more alcohol when the Haumoana man accidentally fell and pulled Puna down with him.

Crown prosecutor Steve Manning said Puna was angered by this and repeatedly booted the Haumoana resident in the head, knocking him out before waiting for him to wake up before continuing the assault.

Mr Manning began his closing submissions on Thursday morning by asking the jury to put themselves in Puna's bloodied shoes and walk around in them.

"Put yourself in Mr Puna's place and ask yourself what else can he have been thinking. What was he thinking as he drove, forcefully, his foot into the face and head, repeatedly, of a defenceless man lying on the ground."

He told the jury there were two paths to finding Puna guilty of murder.

The first being that at the time he delivered the blows he intended to end Beale's life or the second being that he intended to cause bodily injury he knew was likely to cause death, but did it anyway.

Puna's actions were deliberate, prolonged and targeted and this reflected his true intent, the prosecutor said.

"Mr Puna's actions were not reactive. They were not instinctive. He did not lash out in an unthinking manner in anger."

Mr Manning said the defendant had every opportunity to appreciate the gravity of what he was doing, delivering 13 fully forced kicks to the head, but continued anyway.

"He could see the man was knocked out lying on the ground and bleeding. And then he does it again and again and again. Not in a rushed, unthinking, frantic flurry of blows but in a considered, callous, slow, contemplative manner."

While Puna was drunk he was clearly able to think as he'd told concerned passers-by that Beale was just drunk as he lay on the ground, Mr Manning said.

The prosecutor said the defendant's final decision to urinate on his victim was "callous".

Puna's defence lawyer Eric Forster submitted the appropriate verdict would be manslaughter.

"What Johnnie Puna did to Mr Beale was terrible. There is not dispute over that. What we say is, as terrible as it was, it wasn't murder."

The fact that Puna did not previously know Beale, had nothing to gain from his death and had been happily drinking with him in a public space before they fell out indicated there was no intent to kill the Haumoana man, Mr Forster said.

He asked the jury to set aside any dislike for the things Puna did, and any prejudice they may have, and deliberate on the facts of the case.

Justice Helen Cull QC summarised the case before the jury of 11 before it began deliberating at 3.20pm. One juror was excused for unexplained reasons on Wednesday morning.

Puna was arrested on February 24 and charged with murder. He pleaded guilty to stealing the dead man's cellphone and vaping device.

The jury went home at 5pm and was set to resume deliberations on Friday morning.