Any idea when this will be? What's the next in the
Well at this stage he has just been brought before the district court and charged with murder - so they only need to show enough to justify keeping him locked up. So I guess the facts she is dead, the dumped body, the hire car, and some early forensics are enough on that score. But this is only procedural right now.
As this is a category 4 offence, it will go to trial before the High Court, and before a jury.
Its over 20 years since I did my bar course, but IIRC the indictment must set out the particulars of the offence - i.e. both the Actus Reus (physical act) and Mens Rea (intention)
So in other words, I expect it will need to state that he committed a specific physical act that caused death and also that he had one of the following intentions
(a) if the offender means to cause the death of the person killed:
(b) if the offender means to cause to the person killed any bodily injury that is known to the offender to be likely to cause death, and is reckless whether death ensues or not:
(c) if the offender means to cause death, or, being so reckless as aforesaid, means to cause such bodily injury as aforesaid to one person, and by accident or mistake kills another person, though he or she does not mean to hurt the person killed:
(d) if the offender for any unlawful object does an act that he or she knows to be likely to cause death, and thereby kills any person, though he or she may have desired that his or her object should be effected without hurting any one.
As to when the prosecution need to file that stuff, I am not sure. But we don't have trial by ambush in NZ so the prosecution has to show its hand.
