Auckland man Philip John Polkinghorne has pleaded guilty to two drugs charges ahead of his murder trial's opening this morning.
Polkinghorne, accused of murdering his wife Pauline Hanna, will go on trial at Auckland High Court from today.
Hanna was a senior figure at the Counties Manukau District Health Board and was involved in its Covid-19 work.
She was found dead at home on Upland Rd in April 2021. She was 63.
Over a year after her death in August 2022, Polkinghorne – an eye surgeon now aged in his early 70s – was charged with murder.
Ahead of jury selection this morning, Polkinghorne was arraigned on two meth-related charges.
Dressed in a dark suit and tie, he stood to enter his plea next to a court security officer in the dock.
He admitted to possessing methamphetamine and a methamphetamine utensil on April 5, 2021.
Those charges had previously been suppressed but can now be reported.
Polkinghorne will still go on trial for the charge of murder.
It's expected the trial will last six weeks.
By about 11.10am this morning, a jury of nine women and three men were selected.
Asked to swear if they would try the case to the best of their ability, each said: "I do."
The group were selected from a pool of about 60 people.
A number of potential jurors were stood aside by the judge or dismissed after a challenge from defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC.
Mansfield is leading the defence, alongside barristers Harrison Smith and Hannah Stuart.
The prosecution team is Brian Dickey, Alysha McClintock and Pip McNabb while Justice Graham Lang will preside.
About a dozen journalists were there for the first morning of the high-profile trial. Courtroom 11, where it's being held, has hosted a number of other notable cases - including the trial of Jesse Kempson, Grace Millane's killer.
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