Senior Sergeant Karl Davie gives evidence in the High Court at New Plymouth today. Photo / Pool
The officers at the centre of a manslaughter trial in New Plymouth were part of the "most high-performing section in South Taranaki", a court has heard.
The three officers - who all have name suppression - are charged with manslaughter in relation to the death of 55-year-old Allen Ball.
In her opening statement to the jury yesterday, Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke alleged the officers were grossly negligent in their duty of care to the victim and that this negligence was a causal factor in his death, thereby committing manslaughter.
The manslaughter charge relates to the officers allegedly failing to provide the necessities of life, namely medical attention.
If they had provided medical attention, the Crown alleges, it may have saved his life.
Giving evidence on day two of the trial in the High Court at New Plymouth, Senior Sergeant Karl Davie said the accused were part of a team he classified as "the most high-performing section in South Taranaki".
"They're the highest-performing team in a number of areas in our working group. They were the working group that I would always feel reassured they always do a really good job, were urgent about their work and really reliable and high performing.
"They contribute in prevention measures, road policing ... they're the most high-performing section in South Taranaki."
The court heard yesterday how police were called to a family harm incident at a property on May 31, 2019. Ball was ultimately handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.
He almost immediately began snoring and had to be carried into Hāwera Police Station by six officers at 11.46am.
He was placed in a cell and would ultimately lose consciousness. He was pronounced dead at 2.53am.
The Crown alleges the three officers were grossly negligent in their duty after failing to seek medical assistance despite recognising him as "grossly intoxicated".
He said it was not usual practice for a cell door to be left open after a person had been placed in there.
Davie also told the court that if there was an arrest that needed to be made, he could be confident the particular team would do it.
Hāwera Police Station only briefly held people after being processed, before being given police bail to reappear in court at a later date, he said.
The more serious arrests would be sent to New Plymouth.
He also explained the layout of the station, how officers process people being arrested and who was in charge of them.
Asked by Clarke who was responsible for a person who had just been arrested, Davie said that would be the officer who made the arrest.
Defence counsel Susan Hughes QC put to Davie that he wouldn't find it surprising that her client had to leave the station that night to attend to other callouts.
"Absolutely not," he replied
She also asked him about police protocol around waking sleeping detainees and how the United Nations had likened waking a person to "torture".
Davie said he was unaware of their stance but said officers were always "cautious" when dealing with them and just ensured that they were breathing.
A heavily pregnant Constable Chloe Ashton attended the initial callout with Officer C.
While Ball was taken back to the station, Ashton said she stayed behind and interviewed Ball's long-term partner, Stacey Whitmore.
She later came into the station's "receiving room" to hear Constable Ben Patterson calling for an ambulance.
Officers B and C were with Ball and Officer B was actively checking to see if he was breathing and whether he had a pulse.
She called Whitmore and was informed Ball had consumed about a litre of bourbon but was unaware if he had taken or consumed anything else.
In her opening remarks to the jury, Hughes said her client accepted that made a mistake that day, but that didn't make her a criminal.
"We expect a great deal from police officers, we expect them to observe a level of duty of care ... [client] is less than perfect but she is not a criminal."
She told the jury there were two steps to consider when considering whether her client was guilty; whether Officer A breached their duty of care to Ball, and if so, was that a major departure from the level of care expected.
Hughes said Ball died after "deliberately and covertly" ingesting a large amount of tramadol, codeine and alcohol.
As for why her client didn't seek medical assistance, her client believed that Ball was "drunk and was sleeping off a bender".
Kylie Pascoe, counsel for Officer B, also told the jury that her client got it wrong, but he also believed Ball was sleeping off his intoxication and it would only later be discovered that Ball had "self poisoned".
"[Client] got it wrong." However, getting it wrong was not the issue, it was determining whether there had been a major departure from the standard of care expected from Officer B.
Andrew Laurenson, for Officer C, also agreed with Hughes and said his client did nothing different to other officers who were working that night - but they haven't been charged.
The trial, now before a jury of four men and seven women, kicked off yesterday and is being overseen by Justice Susan Thomas.
The Crown will call 24 witnesses over the four weeks the matter is set down for.