Doctor’s plea for trial switch denied
A doctor accused of murdering a Dunedin teenager has failed in a bid to have his trial heard outside the southern city.
Venod Skantha, 30, is charged with the murder of 16-year-old Amber-Rose Rush, who was found dead in her Corstorphine home on February 2.
Skantha, then a doctor at Dunedin Hospital, was charged days later and has pleaded not guilty to that as well as to a count of indecent assault and four of threatening to kill.
He applied for a change in trial venue — his lawyer, Jonathan Eaton QC, said it needed to be “away from Dunedin”.
“Whether that’s to Christchurch or Wellington or whatever; it’ll be away from Dunedin,” he said.
The High Court released its decision on the application yesterday on the court website. It ruled Skantha would face trial in Dunedin.
“The High Court has declined an application for the trial of Dr Skantha to be moved away from Dunedin,” the site stated.
“Justice Nation said he was satisfied that it would be possible to hold Dr Skantha’s trial in Dunedin before a jury which will be able to reach a verdict solely on the evidence, uninfluenced by feelings of prejudice or sympathy.”
The trial is likely to occur in the latter half of 2019.
Amber’s mother, Lisa Rush, also died last year. She passed away in what was believed to be a suspected suicide just four months after the alleged murder.