Stephens jury faces clash of evidence

Jury members in the trial of a former police officer accused of beating and raping his girlfriend were told yesterday that they had to resolve a head-on clash in the evidence.

In his summing up, Justice Mark O'Regan told the jury in the High Court at Auckland that they had to decide which version they believed.

Tyler Stephens, aged 25, of Blockhouse Bay, faces one charge of injuring with intent to injure by headbutting the woman twice in the forehead, two counts of assault, three of unlawful sexual connection and one of rape.

The incidents are alleged to have happened on three dates - September 19, 1999, and January 1 and May 5, 2000, when Stephens was a serving officer.

The woman said he was controlling and domineering and over time the control developed a sexual element.

The crown prosecutor, Stuart Grieve, QC, earlier told the jury that the offending was part of a power trip for Stephens.

Justice O'Regan said that Stephens, who is represented by Peter Kaye and Roger Chambers, denied the allegations outright.

It was not a case where consent was the issue - quite simply Stephens said the events did not happen and that the evidence had been concocted.

"Someone is lying here," the judge said.

"The two versions of events here are not capable of being reconciled."

The jury of eight men and four women retired at 10.50 am. They adjourned late last night and will resume their deliberations this morning.