Leading entertainment figure trial: Jury retires to consider verdicts after 12 weeks

A leading figure in the New Zealand entertainment industry has been on trial for the past three months. Photo / Andrew Warner

A jury has retired to consider verdicts in the case of a leading entertainment figure facing 25 charges including allegations of serious sexual assault and drug offending after three months of evidence.

Justice Layne Harvey finished his summing-up to the jury of nine women and three men in the High Court at Rotorua just before midday today. The jury now has the task of deciding if the defendant, who has name suppression until the end of the trial, is guilty or innocent.

The trial is nearing the end of its 12th week - after originally being set down for six weeks.

The defendant has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges of indecent assault, four of sexual violation by rape, three of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, two of attempted sexual violation, two of burglary, one of assault with intent to commit sexual violation, one of supplying MDMA, one of supplying methamphetamine and one of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Crown Solicitor Anna Pollett has presented a case alleging the man has offended against nine women over several years. Pollett has argued the man took advantage of his position in the entertainment industry to get what he wanted sexually from women, even if they said no.

She said on some occasions he used drugs to limit the women’s inhibitions.

Pollet said the offending only came to light after a woman made a complaint to police in 2021. That alleged offending happened when the complainant was away for the weekend with the defendant, his wife and their family.

That complainant, who was the first to give evidence, told the jury she was left upset and shaken after the defendant went into her bedroom, kissed her, picked her up out of her bed, held her against a wall and sexually assaulted her despite her repeated refusals.

The defendant’s lawyer, Ron Mansfield KC, has argued the police and others used that woman’s complaint to get “numbers” to back up their case by encouraging other women to come forward.

Mansfield said their stories of what the defendant had done to them had been “re-imagined” in a case, he said, that had become a “MeToo fest”.

The defence case, which included the defendant giving evidence for more than six days, acknowledged he lived a life of “sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll” and had up to 40 affairs outside his marriage. Mansfield said the defendant was a popular man who never had to resort to drugs and alcohol to get women to have sex with him.

The trial got off to a shaky start when the first jury had to be dismissed after just one day, when one of the jurors realised they knew one of the witnesses.

Another jury was partially selected but only eight of the 12 people could be found after more than half of the 400 potential jurors failed to answer their jury duty.

Justice Harvey adjourned for a day to allow court staff time to ring people who had been sent jury letters requesting they come to court.

The trial finally started with the Crown’s opening on May 17.

It later faced a six-day delay due to jurors having Covid-19.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.