After slightly more than 12 hours of deliberations a jury has come up with a mixed bag of verdicts for five Whakatāne Black Power members.
The group had been on trial in the High Court at Rotorua since June 25, the charges they faced stemming from an armed clash with
members of their long time rivals the Mongrel Mob.
The confrontation came when Mob members in procession poured into Whakatāne for the cremation of senior Kawerau mobster Tahu Kingi on January 17 last year.
In the final analysis none of the defendants were found guilty of discharging a firearm with disregard for the safety of mob members or shooting at seven Rotorua police officers attempting to separate the warring factions.
Two of the verdicts were carried by a majority of l1 with one juror dissenting on the Mongrel Mob-related charges against Codie Taitapanui and Te Reneti Tarua.
As a group they were unable to reach a majority verdict on the charge of discharging a firearm at the Mongrel Mob laid against Whitu Taipeti and Justice Graham Lang discharged him on that count.
As he had earlier pleaded guilty to other charges he, along with the remaining defendants, were remanded in custody and are to be sentenced in the High Court at Tauranga on August 30.
Individual defendants and the verdicts on other charges against them were Benjamin Biddle who was found guilty of rioting and participating in an organised criminal group.
Taitapanui was found guilty of rioting, belonging to an organised criminal group and unlawfully possessing firearms.
Tarua was also found guilty on the rioting and criminal group charges but not guilty of unlawfully possessing firearms.
Taumata Tawhai was another found guilty of the rioting and organised criminal group charges.
The jury retuned to the court room several times throughout their deliberations for video footage of the altercation to be replayed, some of it showing individual defendants identified by a red ring around them.
Thanking the jury for the earnest attention they'd given the trial Justice Lang told them they'd been a model jury, on time every day and never holding proceedings up.
"You have performed your services wonderfully, it is not easy to sit in judgement against a fellow human being," he said.
A number of defence lawyers asked for the suitability of home detention to be assessed for their clients when their pre-sentence reports are prepared.
The judge agreed, however, he was unconvinced home detention would be a realistic prospect but said that would be considered when he sentenced the men who'd be given credit for time already spent in custody while on remand.
The trial had been set down for six weeks but was completed in under three.
