Haami Hanara’s lawyer has told the court there isn’t enough evidence to convict the 14-year-old of murder.
The teenager has been on trial in the High Court at Napier, charged with the murder of 40-year-old Kelly Donner, who was found with critical injuries outside a Flaxmere pub in March this year.
The incident happened after Hanara and a group of youths were out on a Sunday night planning to rob a liquor store. The group met Mr Donner, a known rough sleeper, in a service area behind the local pub
They borrowed a torch from him to try and steal a van.
When Mr Donner asked for his torch back, a fight broke out which spilled into a grassed area outside the tavern. Bottles and concrete were thrown by each party and Mr Donner was even hit with a bicycle.
CCTV footage shown to the court showed Mr Hanara with a knife in his hand before chasing Mr Donner out of shot. The teenager then returns to frame with the knife covered in blood.
Multiple teenagers gave evidence stating that they saw Hanara with the knife that night. With one telling the court she saw Hanara punching Mr Donner in the neck and shoulder area and afterwards said “I stabbed him – run”.
Hanara testified in the trial and told the court he didn’t remember how he got Mr Donner’s blood on the knife.
Defence lawyer Eric Forster argued in his closing statement the 33 seconds where the 14 year old cannot be seen in the CCTV is “asking you to fill in the gaps” and said that meant “you can’t record a verdict of guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”
He also told the jury the witnesses weren’t credible as they gave conflicting reports of what happened and one was under the influence of cannabis.
Crown Prosecutor Steve Manning told the jury it’s “clearly not credible” that the teenager doesn’t remember what happened.
He is the only one with a knife and has admitted to it only being in his hands. Despite the lack of CCTV images of the incident, there are three people who say they saw the defendant attack Mr Donner.
The four other youths involved in the attack have been dealt with by the youth court.
The judge has finished summing up and the jury has retired to consider their verdict.
Justice Peter Churchman told the jury in summing up that they may be able to draw an inference where they could make the conclusion that something has happened based on the evidence they have heard.
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