Orren Scott Williams in the High Court in Hamilton defending a charge of murder and three of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Photo / Belinda Feek
Orren Williams was angry and "shooting to kill" four men after he fired at least eight shots towards them as they fled after smashing their way into his rural home.
In her closing submission to the jury of six men and six women in the High Court at Hamilton today, Crown prosecutor Jacinda Hamilton said Williams was retaliating after they broke in and attempted to steal two large bags of cannabis.
"The Crown says he was not acting to defend himself, he was acting out of anger, perhaps sending a message, don't come back and try this again and he did that by firing his high-powered rifle repeatedly, at least eight times."
Williams denies a charge of murder and three of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to four men during the early hours of June 6, last year.
Williams has submitted, through his lawyer Philip Morgan QC, that he was acting in self defence when he fired at the men, and given the circumstances he was justified in doing so.
However, Hamilton told the court today that the test for self defence was a strict one and could only be justified by actions necessary to avert an imminent threat in circumstances the defendant believed existed at the time.
"In other words, there's no room for gratuitous violence … shooting as he did was plainly not reasonable," she said.
She asked the jury to consider the threat he perceived it to be as he fired "shot after shot after shot".
"At least eight times … not because he perceived an ongoing threat but, in his words, because he was committed.
"Not knowing what somebody else is going to do, does not mean that it is necessarily reasonable to shoot them and that is the case if they have not shot at you and had ample opportunity to do so."
Wanting people to "hurry up and go" was also no justification for self defence.
"A person having a firearm does not give another person a licence to kill."
In the house as the group tussled in the lounge, Williams testified he could tell the man with the gun was never going to pull the trigger so he jumped up and ran to his gun cabinet in the laundry, leaving his wife kneeling at the gunman's feet.
Hamilton said one of the men then kicked at the door but then they all fled, likely knowing what was behind that door and remembering being told by friend Emma Salvation that Williams would shoot them if they tried to steal his cannabis.
As for firing out into the darkness, Hamilton put to the jury that Williams knew his family weren't out there and likely to get hit by his shots.
Despite his denial, the Crown submitted that he was able to talk briefly with his wife before they jumped out a bedroom window and ran down a muddy bank.
He then
went outside and
saw the rear of the car about 45m away and
stared firing.
She said the men would have been lit
up as targets by the car's headlights, and Williams treated them as such.
"There's absolutely no way in the world that repeated shooting is reasonable force ... that, members of the jury could never be reasonable in the circumstances you might believe them to be.
"I suggest reckless in the extreme."
Earlier this morning when questioned about a statement to police last year, Williams' wife, Taryn, told the jury she had no idea why the men would want to break in as they weren't "rich" although they made a bit of money from their fruit stall.
However, she admitted to Mann that the cannabis they sold was of "significant monetary value".
"Yes it was."
As for why she didn't call police and why she avoided their calls at 7.50am, she wanted to calm her children and ensure that her husband had disposed of the cannabis that he had.
"I didn't want to talk to police because I just wanted time to take a breather, settle my children, keep them calm and hoped that Orren had disposed of the cannabis."
She said she knew her husband would be taken away by police and she didn't want to get busted with her stashes of cannabis, so took it with her in the car as she drove to her friend's house.
"Yes I wanted to protect my children by getting rid of it … chuck it out. I knew that they would probably take Orren away and … they needed me … and I needed to protect my children."
Williams, 38, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering Faalili Moleli Fauatea, 23, and three other charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Shaun Te Kanawa, Grayson Toilolo and Joe Tumaialu.
Defence counsel Philip Morgan, QC, will deliver his closing submissions tomorrow morning.
Justice Mary Peters will then deliver her summing up before sending them off to begin their deliberations.
* Shaun Te Kanawa, Grayson Toilolo and Joe Tumaialu were all charged with aggravated burglary for their part in the incident. Te Kanawa and Tumaialu have been sentenced, however Toilolo's case is still before the court. Emma Salvation received a sentence of 12 months' home detention for her part in planning the burglary.