The jury in a murder trial where a man is accused of shooting an acquaintance while the pair were sat in a car in a suburban Whangarei street has retired overnight.
Michael John Paewhenua, 27, is facing trial charged with the murder of Moses Noor Mahanga on the night of October 4 last year on William Jones Dr, Otangarei.
Paewhenua pleaded not guilty to the charge and a jury trial started on November 27.
The jury in the High Court at Whangarei was sent to consider its verdict early yesterday afternoon and after failing to reach a verdict by the end of business was sent home for the night. It will resume its deliberations at 9am today.
Closing addresses by the Crown and defence teams were delivered to the jury on Wednesday before Justice Rebecca Edwards summed up the case yesterday. In her summing up, Justice Edwards told the jury not to be distracted by red herring in that they should not think about what other evidence they did not test that may have been produced during trial.