A man accused of shooting one of his neighbour’s guests during a dispute over fireworks on Guy Fawkes night has been found not guilty, with the defence arguing the complainant had actually shot himself.
The jury spent more than 12 hours deliberating on the case, with witnesses claiming memory loss, giving evidence that conflicted with their earlier police statements, and with each side alleging the other had brought and fired the gun.
Tuhi Alexander was on trial last week in the Wellington District Court, accused of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for the November 2022 incident, which left the complainant needing surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder.
The 38-year-old told police he had gone over to confront the group on Judd Crescent, Lower Hutt because they were shooting fireworks at his house and frightening his toddler.
He said he had his daughter with him when he approached one of the men, but that the man, Iziah Hughes, started asking for a fight.
“Out of nowhere he smacked me in the face,” he said in his evidential video interview, which was played to the jury.
“He must have pulled out that f***ing weapon he had, at first I just thought to knock me in the head. I didn’t realise it was a gun.
“I didn’t take any weapons to that fight, that’s a stupid move. Taking weapons with your f***ing kids.”
Detective Ben Pye told Alexander the complainants had given statements saying he was the one who had brought the gun.
“F*** off, that is not my firearm. Straight up, I don’t know where it came from,” Alexander replied.
“It’s nothing like that, man, those are not my weapons, no shit. I wouldn’t do that in front of my daughter. I didn’t do it, I didn’t shoot him.
“He’s got himself shot with his own f***ing gun. That’s what happened.”
He described the group of men and teenagers attacking him, saying he eventually was able to get up, take his daughter and go home.
After the fight, he fled the street in a white car, driving up on the footpath to evade a police cordon. He said he “freaked out” when he saw the police car and feared the police might shoot him. He has pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving for this incident.
Complainant Leonard Murray gave evidence earlier in the trial, saying he and other adults were supervising while the children let off fireworks on the roadside. They were visiting his brother’s home at the time and did not live in the area.
He had intially told police he saw Alexander come over to them and punch Hughes in the face, but during the trial said he didn’t see the punch directly, but believed Alexander had thrown the first one.
“I turned around and reacted the way anyone would, I would suggest anyway if someone was to whack your family member.
“I’m not gonna lie, I threw punches and kicks. I own that, I put my hand up.”
At some point in the scuffle he said he was shot.
“All I seen was, like, a spark, if anything. Like if you were to let off a Guy Fawke and the flash that happened, that’s all I seen.
“I thought it was just a firecracker at first, but then I felt, like, a sensation, almost like a heated sensation, like my body was heating up in one area,” he said, gesturing to his armpit.
Under cross-examination he denied having brought the gun himself. When asked why he let Alexander go after he had supposedly just shot him, he said Alexander was calling for his daughter and he did the “fatherly thing” by letting him go to her.
His lawyer raised this point to the jury, questioning why the group would allow Alexander to leave the scene if he had just brought a gun and shot one of them.
Key witnesses in the trial were unable to shed light on the truth of what happened that night, with Hughes saying he had sinced suffered a head injury and could not recall any of the details.
Meanwhile Melissa Reeve, who was hosting the gathering, told the court she did not want to attend the trial or answer questions, but agreed to regardless.
She gave answers directly contradicting her earlier police statement, and said Hughes was “quite intoxicated and looking for a confrontation”.
Despite previously saying she saw Alexander punch Hughes in the face, and that she had seen him with a tomahawk in his hand, at trial she said she could not recall, and could not see who threw the first punch as she was not looking in the right direction.
The jury of four men and seven women deliberated over Friday and Monday, delivering their verdicts late on Monday afternoon.
They found Alexander not guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and not guilty of common assault for the alleged punch. They did find him guilty of possessing an offensive weapon for having the tomahawk, and could not produce a verdict on the charge of unlawfully possessing a pistol.
Alexander will be sentenced in late October on the charges of dangerous driving and possessing the tomahawk.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.