The key people and what to expect
Grace Millane murder trial
The trial for the man accused of murdering Grace Millane begins on Monday in the High Court at Auckland.
The British woman was killed on the weekend of her 22nd birthday, just a day after arriving in Auckland as part of a year-long solo OE.
Millane was last seen going into a central Auckland hotel the night of December 1. The 27-year-old man she went to the hotel with has been charged with murder.
Here, we look at who will be in the courtroom each day — and how the trial is likely to play out over the next month or so.
The Judge
Justice Simon Moore
Formerly a top criminal lawyer and a Queens Counsel, Justice Moore was appointed a Judge of the High Court in February 2014.
In 1994 he was appointed Crown Solicitor for Auckland, a role that gave him overall responsibility for the prosecution of all indictable crime in the region. He has been a familiar face at the High Court since, appearing for the Crown in most of the major criminal trials in the region.
These include the cases of Centrepoint commune founder Bert Potter, rapist Malcolm Rewa, RSA murderer William Bell, samurai sword attacker and murderer Antoine Dixon and the trials over the deaths of Peter Plumley-Walker, who was killed in a bondage session and dumped over the Huka Falls, and baby twins Chris and Cru Kahui.
He also acted for the Crown at the trial of disgraced MP Taito Phillip Field, who was charged with corruption, and was appointed lead counsel for police at the royal commission on the 2010 Pike River mining tragedy.
Since becoming a judge he has presided over high-profile cases including the trial of rugby coach Alosio Taimo — found guilty of 95 charges of sexually abusing 17 boys, aged between 9 and 16 at the time.
The Crown
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey
As Crown Solicitor at Auckland via law firm Meredith Connell, Dickey has more than 24 years’ litigation experience and has conducted major criminal and civil cases, including a run of significant finance-company cases, after collapses in that sector from 2007.
Most recently Dickey is perhaps best known for his role in the Aaron Archer murder trial — the man accused of killing his girlfriend’s daughter Ariah Roberts, 2. Archer was found guilty of manslaughter and will be sentenced in December.
Dickey will be joined by Meredith Connell partner and experienced prosecutor Robin McCoubrey.
McCoubrey was in practice as a barrister in London for seven years before migrating to New Zealand in 2008. In the UK he worked on predominantly criminal cases, for the prosecution and defence, and cases in regulatory and public law.
The Defence
Ian Brookie
After starting his legal career in 2001 as a solicitor for the firm Rudd, Watts & Stone, Brookie moved to Meredith Connell — the office of the Crown Solicitor in Auckland — in 2003, where he prosecuted cases on behalf of the Crown, police and other government entities.
In 2013 Brookie joined the independent bar and helped establish Sentinel Chambers in Auckland city.
As a barrister he defends alleged offenders in all courts from district to the Supreme Court. According to his website, no case is too big or small and he claims to have the “abilities and the connections to achieve good results in any court forum”.
Ron Mansfield
Mansfield is arguably one of the country’s leading defence lawyers and specialises in everything from criminal cases to serious traffic crimes, sports law, defamation and extradition.
Mansfield has been a criminal litigator for 25 years and is “particularly recognised” as having a speciality in successfully defending clients in drug and serious criminal cases.
According to his website bio, Mansfield is “particularly client focused” and says “the multitude of successful outcomes for clients and their positive feedback speaks for itself ”.
Some of his most memorable cases include former Shortland Street actor Rene Naufahu, who was sentenced to home detention for indecently assaulting a number of women, and Alfred Keating — one of New Zealand’s highest-ranking military officers and diplomats who was convicted of planting a covert camera in a bathroom at the New Zealand embassy in Washington DC.
Mansfield is currently defending a media personality arrested in a major police operation against the Comanchero Motorcycle Gang and the man accused of the murder of Franklin man Denver Chance.
The Accused
The man accused of murdering Grace Millane has interim name suppression. Media cannot publish any details that would identify him.
He is a 27-year-old who was living in Auckland at the City Life hotel at the time. Police allege he met Millane the weekend of November 30 — just hours after she arrived in Auckland — and killed her on December 1 or 2.
The Police
Leading the police team that investigated Millane’s disappearance and then, after her body was found, her alleged murder, is Detective Inspector Scott Beard. He has more than 30 years’ experience.
When Millane’s father David travelled to New Zealand, Beard met him and kept him briefed. Beard broke the news to David that his daughter’s body had been found, and then confirmed the breakthrough in the case to media, drawing praise for his humanity and empathy.
Beard continued to lead the investigation team as they built their case, and travelled to the UK to support Millane’s family at her funeral.
It is understood Beard has spent time with David and Gillian Millane in the days leading up to the trial and will attend most, if not all, days in court by their side.
The Families
When Millane went missing, her father David flew to Auckland to help police. At the time, her mother Gillian was undergoing treatment for cancer but is understood to be in good health at the moment.
Members of the alleged murderer’s family are expected to attend parts of the trial.
The Media
The trial is scheduled to run for at least a month and will be covered by local and international media.
The Herald and others will be at the High Court in Auckland for the duration of the trial, and parts of it will be allowed to be filmed.
How the trial will work
A jury of 12 men and women will be empanelled at 9am on Monday. The trial will start at 10am each day and run through to 5pm, with morning, lunch and afternoon adjournments.
Justice Moore will make his opening remarks where he will explain about the trial and what the job of the jury will be.
The Crown will then start their case with an opening statement in which either Dickey or McCoubrey will outline why the accused has been brought to trial. They will likely give a rundown of the events they allege led to Millane’s death and how they believe she was killed. They may also explain the kinds of evidence they’ll give.
The defence may then choose to make a short opening statement.
The Crown will then call its witnesses to testify one by one, questioning each before the defence have a chance to cross-examine. The judge may question the witness at any time.
The defence present their case in the same way but Brookie and Mansfield may or may not present evidence — including putting the accused on the stand to give his side of the story.
Once both sides have given closing speeches, Justice Moore will sum up for the jury. While they must accept what the judge says about points of law, it is solely up to the jury to decide what the evidence has or hasn’t proven.
They will then be sent to a private room to deliberate.
Deliberations and verdict
In most New Zealand trials, the jury is allowed to go home at the end of each day even if they haven’t reached a verdict. They return the following morning to continue their deliberation.
But in serious or unusual cases, the judge may sequester the 12 men and women, meaning they have to stay together until a verdict is reached. If that happens, accommodation and necessities are provided.
In New Zealand, the jury must try to reach a unanimous verdict. If they can’t after a reasonable time, Justice Moore may accept a majority verdict.
If the verdict is not guilty, the man charged with Millane’s murder will be allowed to leave.
If the verdict is guilty, a date for sentencing will be allocated and he will likely be remanded in custody until then.
If the jury can’t reach a verdict, Justice Moore may declare a hung jury and there will be a new trial with a new panel of jurors.