GUILTY NEW ZEALAND - Grace Millane, 22, British backpacker, Auckland, 1 Dec 2018 #3

[mrjitty]

It is such a shame Grace was murdered only 2 days before NZ's new strangulation law came into force on Dec 3 2018

Police have charged almost five people a day with strangling or suffocating their partners since a new family violence law came into force criminalising such acts in December.

And a woman who survived a horror strangling incident, and years of other abuse at the hands of her partner, has spoken out about her ordeal to help people understand how serious the problem really is.

New Zealand has the worst rate of family and intimate-partner violence in the developed world and police are called to an incident every four minutes.

In a bid to curb family violence, new legislation was introduced to make strangulation and suffocation a criminal offence.

Previously there was no separate offence for strangulation as it was treated as assault.

The change was part of the Family Violence Amendment Act, replacing the Domestic Violence Act.

The first person to be charged under the new law - the day it came into force on December 3 - was a South Auckland man.

Since then 416 people in total have been charged, around 33 per week and almost five each day.

A woman who was suffocated by her partner almost daily and strangled in a terrifying assault where she blacked out and thought she was dying has shared her story to highlight the atrocious statistics.

"He strangled me until I was unconscious," Jessica told the Herald.

Hands off: police making five strangulation arrests a day, victim relives 'terrifying' ordeal​

 

[mrjitty]

This would have destroyed the defence case.

189AStrangulation or suffocation

Everyone is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who intentionally or recklessly impedes another person’s normal breathing, blood circulation, or both, by doing (manually, or using any aid) all or any of the following:

(a)
blocking that other person’s nose, mouth, or both:

(b)
applying pressure on, or to, that other person’s throat, neck, or both.​

 

[LucyRocket]

9:15am - The Auckland High Court typically sticks to a strict routine, with scheduled lunch and tea breaks. That makes it unlikely a verdict will be returned between 1pm and 2:15pm or 3:30pm and 3:45pm, unless an exception is made.

Grace Millane murder trial: Justice Simon Moore sums up trial before deliberations begin

 

[LucyRocket]

9:30am - A massive crowd is waiting outside courtroom 11 for proceedings to begin. The day will start with Justice Simon Moore summarising the case and then providing instructions to the jury. Both the Crown and defence had their opportunity to present their final statements on Thursday.

Grace Millane murder trial: Justice Simon Moore sums up trial before deliberations begin

 

[LucyRocket]

There's a Mr/Mrs 'W' along the corridor with name suppression too. I guess it's fairly common

 

[asyousay]

I hope it won’t take long to come to a guilty verdict as his story has way to many holes in it to be truthful.

 

[Kikixxxx]

I really hope there will be a verdict today, and his anonymity is lifted straight after. I don’t wanna wait till Monday !! It’s ages away

 

[Alyce]

For the NZ posters on here - is there a mandatory minimum time for Jury deliberation ?

 

[Mariposa]

Oh, I see.
We haven't seen the pictures so I guess it's hard to determine whether or not she was alive at the time. Hopefully the jury can decide.

Hard to believe he did all that googling and looking up *advertiser censored* while she lay dead on the floor and he didn't notice.
Sounds to me like he was sexually aroused and took the pictures so he could reenact and fantasize about the whole event.

Imo

I think what left it open for the defense to argue the pictures were taken when she was alive is that they are extreme closeups of certain body parts. But in context with the other phone searches around the time the pictures were taken it seems like a huge suspension of disbelief to think she was alive and those were snaps she consented him to take of her genitals and feet.

 

[LucyRocket]

9:47 - David and Gillian Millane have entered courtroom 11 along with their police family liaison officers for the final day of court before the jury retires.

Grace Millane murder trial: Justice Simon Moore sums up trial before deliberations begin

 

[LucyRocket]

I would like to see the layout of the courtroom

 

[LucyRocket]

Justice Simon Moore begins his address to the jury: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my task to sum up this case up to you."

"I wish to pay each of you a compliment on behalf of all of us involved in this trial," he says.

"You have been happy to sit extended hours, you have been on time, you have listened courteously to the evidence and the addresses of council.

"All I ask you is to do the same in my final remarks to you," he says.

Grace Millane murder trial: Judge to give closing remarks before jury retires

 

[jamjim]

10:15 - Court has begun for the final day before the jury retires to deliberate.

The public gallery is overflowing with people.

Justice Simon Moore begins by addressing the gallery, saying people must remain seated until the next adjournment as he does not want the jury distracted.

He then speaks to the jury, complimenting them on their attitude towards the trial, including a willingness to sit extended hours and always turning up on time.

"[It is] plainly evident that throughout you have listened courteously."

Grace Millane murder trial: Justice Simon Moore sums up trial before deliberations begin

 

[jamjim]

Justice Moore said his primary task was to direct the jury on the law and he would divide that info four parts.

Part one would relate to matters about criminal trials.

Part two would be about evidential matters.

Part three he would deal with the legal and factual elements of the Millane case.

And in the final remarks he would give the jury directions on how to approach and deliver their verdict.

The jury will be given a questionnaire, a fact-based question trail, to help them in their decision-making.

Each question on the document must be answered with a yes or no, which will lead them to a verdict.

Grace Millane murder trial: What the judge told the jury

 

[legal.beagle]

I would like to see the layout of the courtroom

Lucy it is similar to this

 

[jamjim]

10.20am


Justice Moore re-explained his role in the process - to oversee the trial and direct the jury on matters of the law which they must accept and apply.

"Decisions on the facts are entirely up to you," he said.

"If I appear to indicate a view of the evidence which doesn't accord of your own view, then you must act on your own view and not mine.

"Decisions on the credibility, reliability of witnesses, that's for you, not me."

He said the media had "saturated" the public with coverage of the case and reminded the jury of the "firm" direction he had made to them on day one about ignoring all of that.

"It's critically important that you make your findings on this case solely on the evidence you heard in this courtroom and nowhere else," said Justice Moore.

Grace Millane murder trial: What the judge told the jury

...

 

[jamjim]

"Let me just remind you of the reasons for that. Media reports are often inaccurate, incomplete and not infrequently - simply wrong.

"And it would be totally unfair of you to judge this case baseD on things you have seen beyond the walls of this courtroom."


He said the accused and Crown deserved to have their cases decided based on the evidence - not on anything else.

"You can see why it would both be fundamentally wrong and fundamentally unfair to take into account anything other than what you have seen, read or heard in this court.

"You must reach your verdict without prejudice against or sympathy for anyone connected to this case."

Justice Moore said it was entirely natural for the jury to have feelings of sympathy to the Millane family and Grace.

Grace Millane murder trial: What the judge told the jury

But he said feelings of that sort "cannot intrude into the solemn task" of reaching a verdict.

He said regardless of their feelings about the accused and his social or sexual practices, they had to remain unbiased.

"What you must not do is say to yourself that because you don't like or do not approve of the accused's lifestyle, he must be guilty.

"That would be completely illogical…. You must use the evidence for legitimate purposes."

He reminded each juror they were a judge and had taken an oath or affirmation when sworn into the role.

"No judge can ever allow feelings of sympathy to influence their decision," he reminded.

"The accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence and the onus is on the Crown to prove beyond reasonable doubt.

"The onus of proving the charges lies on the Crown.

"You must treat (the accused) as innocent until you are satisfied the Crown has proved his guilt on the charge.

"The Crown must prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

Justice Moore said it was "not enough" to believe the accused was "probably" or "very likely" guilty.

"You must be sure," he said.

"If you're not sure, it's your duty to acquit."

 

[LucyRocket]

Lucy it is similar to this

Thank you @legal.beagle . I've seen that image, I'll go and have another look so that I can see who's who

 

[jamjim]

“As I mentioned in my opening comments just three weeks ago, my primary task is to direct you on the law,” Justice Simon Moore tells the jury.

Following Grace Millane's death and the subsequent arrest of the accused - the media "saturated us" with opinion and content, he says.

The jury has been under strict guidelines not to read, watch or listen to any media reports of the case.

"Both the defence and the Crown have the right for you to decide their cases on the evidence heard in this court and nowhere else.

"It is natural for you to have sympathy for the Millane family and for Grace, who was here on what should have been a happy and exciting adventure," he says.

Equally, jurors can't let emotional feelings towards the defendant sway their decision, they're told.

"To do that is completely illogical, it will not be fair. As judges you must be fair and use the evidence for legitimate purposes.

"You [the jury] must decide the charge in accordance with the oath you gave at the beginning of the trial and judge him [the accused] on the evidence you have heard."

Grace Millane murder trial: Judge gives closing remarks before jury retires

 

[sunnynz]

I don’t believe we should have to wait until Monday for a verdict if one isn’t reached today. I was foreperson on a jury at Auckland high court (granted this was about ten years ago) and we began our deliberations on a Friday. We chose to continue deliberating until late Friday night to reach a verdict because otherwise we were going to have to come back on the Saturday which none of us wanted to do. I’m sure I’m remembering this correctly, that deliberations continue through the weekend? Can someone with local knowledge confirm this please?