Lawyer urges jury to ‘acquit Dr Skantha’

Thirty minutes into the interview, Detective Wayne O’connell began asking questions that pointed at Skantha being the prime suspect in Amber-rose’s death.

Eaton told the jury his client was in shock and asked police if the accusations had come from the Crown’s star witness, whose name is suppressed.

Eaton said Skantha had been falsely implicated by the teenage witness, and the jury must decide if the teen was credible and reliable. He urged the jury of 10 men and two women if they did doubt his evidence to ‘‘acquit Dr Skantha’’.

Eaton likened the Crown’s case to a ‘‘house of cards’’, which relied on the evidence of the witness who told police from the outset that he was a ‘‘compulsive liar’’.

Crown prosecutor Robin Bates earlier said Skantha killed Amber-rose because she had threatened his job, lifestyle and liberty.

Eaton said that motive was ‘‘illogical’’, particularly as the police never questioned a possible motive the witness had.

He took aim at the police handling of the case, which included telling the teen he was a witness and not a suspect. ‘‘From there, there is no going back.’’ Eaton said the prosecution had ‘‘blinkers on’’ when handling the witness.

‘‘We all know he was lying.’’

The Crown alleged Skantha felt he needed to silence Amber-rose after she posted a series of messages between the pair on Instagram.

Skantha, who was on a final warning at Dunedin Hospital, had everything to lose, the Crown argued.