Shades of grey in smuggling trial

"C'mon, are we being taken for suckers? Or is [Danklof's] explanation the only one that has any possibility of being the truth?" Fergus Steedman, Rachel Howarth's lawyer

The lawyer for a woman accused of smuggling a candy tube full of methamphetamine to her jailhouse boyfriend says he has no idea where the truth lies in the case.

But Fergus Steedman doubts the Crown’s case against Rachel Elizabeth Howarth, arguing the prisoner might have had the drugs on him the whole time.

The jury in Howarth’s trial in the Palmerston North District Court retired on Monday afternoon, to decide if she is guilty or not guilty of supplying Errol Danklof methamphetamine on July 9, 2016.

On Monday evening, jurors had not yet agreed on a verdict.

There is no argument Danklof was found with 14 grams of the drug after Howarth visited him that day at Manawatu¯ Prison.

A prison officer said an M&MS candy tube wrapped in red tape ‘‘fired’’ from Danklof’s backside when he squatted during an aftervisit strip-search.

The Crown alleges Howarth smuggled the drugs to him, removing the tube from her body during a quick toilet stop.

Steedman said this case, like many others, involved working in a world ‘‘full of shades of grey’’.

‘‘When it comes to me doing my job, I never know where the truth lies.

‘‘There is no silver bullet where you can say ‘aha, that resolves the case for us’.’’

But he said he was sure there had been no handover between Howarth and Danklof – a belief affirmed after watching CCTV of the visit.

‘‘The image of the cannister covered in red tape was never to be seen.’’

Danklof hid the tube up his bottom before the visit, after stealing it from a fellow inmate, because he did not trust leaving it in his cell, Steedman said.

His cell was searched later that day and tobacco found, proving him right.

He had also spoken about hiding contraband up his bottom on previous occasions, making the explanation plausible, Steedman said.

The Crown’s theory – Danklof hid the tube in his shoe, then shoved it down his jumpsuit, caught it, then got it into his underwear and pants before putting it up his bottom – was not realistic, Steedman said.

‘‘C’mon, are we being taken for suckers? Or is [Danklof’s] explanation the only one that has any possibility of being the truth?’’

Howarth herself had suggested Danklof needed to be a ‘‘magician’’ to pull off what the Crown said he did.

Crown prosecutor Michael Blaschke, however, had a different view.

‘‘The defendant gave it to him that day. It’s that simple.’’

There were inconsistencies between Danklof and Howarth’s evidence, proving them unreliable, Blaschke said.

Furthermore, Danklof’s story about having the drugs up his bottom the whole visit to keep them safe made no sense.

‘‘He knows he is going to have to be searched at the end of the visit.

‘‘Why would he take the risk? ‘‘He is lying to protect Rachel Howarth.’’

Danklof had told the court during the trial that he bashed an inmate to get the drugs.

Before sending the jury out to start deliberations, Judge Stephanie Edwards said they had to be careful with feelings of prejudice and sympathy.

They had heard Danklof was a drug-using senior Mongrel Mob member who had been caught with contraband in prison multiple times, and that Howarth was an alcoholic at the time.