Webster judge waives allegation

A judge has ruled an assault charge against basketball star Corey Webster cannot continue while based on an allegation he punched a man at an Auckland bar.

Webster, 28, is on trial at the North Shore District Court charged with two counts of assault after a midnight tussle at Takapuna Bar on November 30 last year.

The NBA hopeful is accused of pulling at a man’s beard while enjoying birthday drinks with friends, before allegedly punching a man during a fracas later at the bar.

Judge Ajit Singh already said he had “a lot of qualms and unease” about witness testimony during the trial.

Yesterday he ruled on a submission from Webster’s lawyer Fletcher Pilditch to dismiss the punching charge, which Pilditch said was based on “unreliable” evidence from prosecution witnesses.

Pilditch said the affray was a “fluid moving event outside, involving a number of people and in the dark”.

Judge Singh agreed and ruled that the evidence “shows that everything happened fairly quickly — there was a fracas and commotion”.

He said Joungmin Namkung’s evidence, who police allege Webster punched, had “his eyes closed” and was in a “choke-hold” during the fight.

The judge said Namkung’s evidence showed he “did not see the punches being thrown” or who threw the punches, and was “guessing” Webster was his attacker.

The evidence of the bar’s duty manager Eve Whitley was also scrutinised by Judge Singh.

Whitley had said she saw Namkung punched to the face and stomach by a “stocky man” who had been holding a bar stool.

However, she could not “remember any faces” from the fight or identify her friend’s attacker. “The charge of assault cannot proceed on the basis of the allegation of punches,” Judge Singh ruled.

Following submissions by counsel, Judge Singh ruled the assault charge would proceed on the accusation that Webster allegedly pulled Namkung’s hoodie.

Yesterday morning Judge Singh had sought clarification from police prosecutor Farrukh Gul Qaisrani about Whitley’s testimony, after it appeared she and Namkung had identified separate attackers.

Namkung had earlier said he was punched during the melee by a man wearing a red hat while he attempted to calm a man grasping a barstool.

However, Pilditch said Namkung had misidentified the 1.88m Webster as his assailant.

Webster was wearing a black Chicago White Sox baseball hat on the night of the affray.

The trial continues.