Not guilty verdict in river death trial
A High Court jury have found a Hamilton man not guilty of manslaughter, for chasing another man into the Waikato River where he later drowned.
The six men and six women reached their unanimous verdict at 5.30pm on Wednesday, in the trial of Neville Patrick Harris, 48, in the High Court in Hamilton.
Harris closed his eyes momentarily on hearing the outcome of his case, but otherwise showed no emotion – other than a nod to both Justice Christine Gordon and the jury’s forewoman, before they were formally discharged.
The jury had retired at 3.15pm, following the judge’s summing-up.
The jury were called back shortly after, because – following a prompt from defence counsel Russell Boot – the judge was compelled to remind them not to place any emphasis on the fact that Harris had not given evidence in his own defence, as he was under no obligation to do so. They retired again at 3.22pm. The single charge Harris faced stated that he ‘‘caused the death of Tama Hurinui Retimana by causing him, by fear of violence, to do an act which caused his death, and thereby committed manslaughter’’ on December 24.
Retimana was found dead in the Waikato River by a kayaker on December 27.
Post-mortem results showed the father of two had been assaulted, suffering facial injuries, before he drowned.
On that day, Retimana and another person had been at his camp by the riverside, when Harris and his friend Wilson Hipango – who were also living rough nearby – arrived and began drinking with them.
Harris had recently brewed some moonshine, which had an alcohol content of 30 to 40 per cent.
At one point, Retimana allegedly began engaging in sexual activity with a woman at the gathering, who appeared to be passed out. He then approached Harris, thrust his finger at him, and asked if he wanted to engage in a threesome.
Harris became angry and hit and kneed Retimana in the head. Retimana fled into the river.
An analysis of Retimana’s blood taken after his body was discovered recorded a blood alcohol content of 360 milligrams of alcohol per millilitre of blood. The legal limit for driving is 50 milligrams.
Neither police detectives involved in the case or members of Retimana’s family wanted to speak following the delivery of the verdicts.
Earlier in the day, Boot said there was no way Harris was responsible for Retimana’s death.
‘‘What [Harris] did on Christmas Eve … was perfectly reasonable and perfectly justified in the circumstances.’’
Boot asked the jurors to place themselves in Harris’ shoes.
‘‘The deceased on this day behaved in an appalling manner.
‘‘[Harris] has, in those circumstances, reacted appropriately to stop further sexual offending. ‘‘He was protecting her.’’ The fact Harris was angry didn’t mean he could not act in the woman’s defence, Boot said.
‘‘The two are not mutually exclusive. Who knows what on earth was going on in the mind of Mr Retimana on that day. Nothing he has done on that day was rational.’’
Any reasonable person could not have foreseen that Retimana would flee into the river, Boot said.
‘‘What has caused this man to enter the river was his own actions. It was simply a continuation of the series of bad choices that he has made.’’ Crown prosecutor Ross Douch argued that Harris was responsible, and was therefore guilty of manslaughter.
‘‘The death does not have to be intended. The death does not have to have been foreseen. Or desired.’’
Harris attacked Retimana because he was enraged, not because he wanted to protect the woman, Douch said. ‘‘It’s abundantly plain that the assault was motivated to bring Mr Retimana to account for a personal offence he caused Mr Harris. Mr Harris was really indifferent [to the woman’s plight].
‘‘When he went in the water, was he under the threat of violence or under fear of violence? Why else would he have gone in the water?
‘‘He had just been punched and kneed in the head by this guy. [Harris] has put Mr Retimana in a confused state.
‘‘Of course you are going to flee. You don’t want to keep getting hit. Where else was he going to go? He was facing the river, and that guy was grabbing at him.
‘‘He drowned because he was in the Waikato River in circumstances in which he was not able to cope.’’