The jury in the Angela Blackmoore murder trial has been told to ignore any personal prejudices it might have when it comes to drugs, sex, and gangs.
After almost five weeks of hearing evidence at the High Court in Christchurch, the jury has retired to consider its verdict against David Hawken and Rebecca Wright-Meldrum.
Angela Blackmoore was murdered at her Wainoni home in 1995. Jeremy Powell, who confessed to the murder in 2019, has been a key witness in the trial.
Angela Blackmoore was killed in 1995 when she was 21. (Source: 1News)
Powell alleged he carried out the killing after being offered $10,000 by Hawken, and was helped by his then-girlfriend Wright-Meldrum.
In summing up the trial, Justice Rachel Dunningham told the jury that its task was to assess the evidence and decide what to accept and what to reject.
She said it could not be influenced by any sympathy "you might feel for any person involved in the case and in particular any sympathy you might feel for the deceased, her partner Mr Anderson and the child she left behind".
Justice Dunningham said the jury also had to be uninfluenced by any personal prejudice against Hawken and Wright-Meldrum, because of what it learned about the pair's lifestyle.
"Now you've heard reference to drugs and sex and strip clubs and motorcycle gangs, however, neither of these defendants is guilty because they mixed with people you might not like nor are they guilty because you may not approve of their lifestyle. Your personal prejudice needs to be ignored.
"The only question for you to decide is whether each defendant is guilty of murder by counselling or procuring the murder or by aiding and abetting the murder.
"You have to objectively assess the evidence and decide if it proves each defendant's guilt to the required standard," Justice Dunningham said.
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