Jury out in dealer shooting trial

High Court jurors are now pondering whether three men accused of robbing and killing a drug dealer realised his death was the likely outcome when they arrived at his house and one of them shot him.

Whakapumautanga ‘‘Cookie’’ Clarke, 25, Cody Paul Griffin, 25, and Daniel George Chase, 22, are standing trial in Hamilton on charges of murder and aggravated robbery.

Scott John Henry, 48, was found by his son shot dead at his Whangamata Rd property near Kinloch, north of Lake Taupo¯ , on Thursday, July 20 last year.

The trio are each accused of murdering Henry and, being armed with a firearm, robbing him of a green Ridgeline Pikau bag and its contents.

The jury of four women and seven men retired to consider their verdicts at 4.17pm.

In her summing up yesterday , Justice Sarah Katz told the jurors they could not find Chase and Griffin guilty of murder or manslaughter if they did not find Clarke – the alleged gunman – guilty of murder or, alternatively, manslaughter.

A manslaughter verdict is something the jurors have available to them, the judge revealed.

Clarke’s counsel Max Simpkins had argued that the shotgun had discharged accidentally and, therefore, Clarke could not be guilty of murder as he never had murderous intent.

The Crown case against the three attests there is ‘‘overwhelming evidence’’ that Clarke’s actions were intended when he shot and killed Henry.