Redford Kaea is on trial in the High Court at Rotorua. Photo / File
Redford Kaea is on trial in the High Court at Rotorua. Photo / File
Redford Kaea punched his father-in-law then picked him up and flipped him twice, smashing his head into a concrete path, according to the Crown in a High Court trial at Rotorua.
Michael John Anderson, 60, was knocked unconscious on February 1 last year and was transferred to Waikato Hospital, wherehe died 13 days later from head injuries.
Kaea, 26, is on trial before Justice Andru Isac and a jury after pleading not guilty to a charge of manslaughter.
Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy gave her opening address to the jury today and said the jury would hear evidence about drinking and drug use, about families behaving badly and not getting on and unconventional family dynamics. However, she said the jury must not have prejudice or sympathy as it wasn't a trial about how they were living their lives.
One of Kaea's lawyers, Scott Mills, gave a brief opening address to the jury and said Kaea was acting in self-defence and used reasonable force to protect himself.
Anderson then stepped in and began fighting with Kaea.
As this fight was happening, another "tussle" started between the first woman fighting with Kaea and another woman, who has also been granted interim name suppression.
As Kaea and Anderson were fighting with each other, a neighbour at one of the flats heard the noise and went outside, McConachy said.
The man witnessed the fight and saw Kaea getting the better of Anderson, who was described as being half the size of Kaea.
The witness noticed Kaea chasing Anderson around a car and saw him punch Kaea a number of times. He was hit by "two good punches", which made him fall to the ground.
McConachy said the witness would say Kaea then picked up Anderson and flipped him onto the ground twice.
The witness then went to call an ambulance and when he came back Kaea left in his car, leaving Anderson unresponsive on the ground.
A post mortem determined Anderson died from blunt force trauma to his head. His injuries included facial fractures, symptoms of severe traumatic brain injury, fractures to multiple ribs, punctured lungs on both sides, a swollen face and eyes, a fractured collar bone and several cuts and bruises.
McConachy said witnesses would say they had previously heard Kaea talking about his father-in-law and that he wanted to "smash him and wanted to kill him".
In Kaea's interview with police, he admitted "flipping" Kaea onto the concrete and described the second time he did it, was a 10 on a scale of one-to-10 in terms of force.
He admitted to police in his interview that he was "really angry and just wanted to leave" and felt that Anderson wasn't going to let them go.
McConachy reminded the jury that the Crown didn't need to prove Kaea intentionally killed Anderson as the charge was one of manslaughter and not murder.
She said Kaea was not acting in self-defence as the force with which he assaulted Anderson was not reasonable.
Rotorua Courthouse. Photo / File
But defence lawyer Mills, who gave a brief opening address on behalf of Kaea, said what happened during the physical altercation was the key issue.
"Our law says a person is legally entitled to use reasonable force when protecting themselves or others.
"But in simple terms, if you use force against someone to protect yourself or to protect others, then that force is legal."
Mills said a charge of manslaughter required a person to commit an unlawful or illegal act.
"So if you find Radford Kaea was acting in self-defence, that is a complete defence of the charge because he would not have committed an illegal act."
The trial is expected to last until at least the end of this week.
