Crash accused had said he 'might as well' kill himself, court told

Auckland High Court. File photo / Greg Bowker

An Auckland man accused of murdering a woman by deliberately swerving into her car said he "might as well" kill himself before taking the fatal trip; drunk, stoned and with children in his vehicle, a court had been told.

Faaotaota Faaotaota pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter when he appeared in the High Court at Auckland today.

He also pleaded not guilty to one charge of causing grievous bodily harm.

The Crown alleges that Faaotaota murdered Melva May Smiler, 55, and badly injured her passenger, Gail Kara, when he steered his car into her's in the south Auckland suburb of Manurewa in November 2008.

Crown prosecutor Josh Shaw said Faaotaota, who was 19 at the time, got involved in an argument with one of his two girlfriends when she told him he was not doing enough to find a job.

He left saying "I might as well kill myself".

He went to his other girlfriend's house - with whom he has a child that his other partner did not know about - and drank alcohol for much of the day.

The two went for a drive and picked up their children, with Faaotaota driving, erratically.

"He had an angry, upset and suicidal state of mind," Mr Shaw said.

Faaotaota had a murderous intent when he swerved into Ms Smiler's vehicle, knowing either his own death or someone else's was likely, he said.

He had 709 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath and tests indicated he had smoked at least one cannabis joint in the hours before the crash.

The legal alcohol limit for drivers under 20 is 150mcg. For drivers over 20 it is 400mcg.

Faaotaota's lawyer Denise Wallwork said her client was "an accident waiting to happen" when he got into his car.

He accepted full responsibility for Ms Smiley's death but had never meant her nor anyone else any harm, she said.

Faaotaota claims he swerved into the path of the oncoming vehicle when he leaned over to kiss his girlfriend.

The trial is expected to take seven days.

- NZPA