Michael Filoa (left) and Aaron Davis are on trial for murder in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
Michael Filoa (left) and Aaron Davis are on trial for murder in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
Clifford Umuhuri might have been a high-ranking Mongrel Mob member on a methamphetamine buying spree, but he was also unarmed and trapped in a "cage" when he was fatally shot at close range, prosecutors said today during their closing address at the murder trial for Michael Filoa and Aaron Davis.
Lawyers for the two defendants, however, said it was Umuhuri with the upper hand and the intention to steal the drugs by force on the morning of his death. He had a fellow Mongrel Mob "heavy" as backup and possibly a gun of his own, they argued.
Jurors will have to decide who preyed on who as they begin deliberating tomorrow in the High Court at Auckland. In addition to murder, both defendants are also charged with aggravated robbery.
Umuhuri bled to death in a residential Grafton street, near Auckland City Hospital, on the morning of June 1, 2020, roughly 30 minutes after Filoa shot him in a nearby Auckland neighbourhood.
Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey urged jurors not to be prejudiced by Umuhuri's gang affiliation, or by the "hardly surprising" fact that the Mongrel Mob distributes illegal drugs in New Zealand.
"So what? Gangs don't feature in this case in reality," he said. "This is not a gang shooting. This is just a robbery.
"It doesn't matter if Mr Umuhuri was a gang member or not. It doesn't make him less of a victim."
Clifford Umuhuri was fatally shot in Auckland in June 2020. Photo / Supplied
The crux of the case, he said, is that Filoa and Davis didn't have the 14 grams of methamphetamine Umuhuri wanted buy so they instead showed up with fake drugs and a gun. They should have anticipated that things are "bound to go wrong" when taking a gun to a fake meth deal, he said.
"Mr Umuhuri turned out not to be such a willing fool as to be sold rubbish," Dickey said, suggesting that he was "fundamentally defenceless" but put up a fight inside Davis' car when he realised he was being cheated.
Davis then opened the back door and pulled Filoa out of the car, but Umuhuri's door was locked from the inside and he was trapped, Dickey said.
"The truth would have been [Filoa] saw a man desperate to get out of the car and he pulled the trigger," Dickey said, adding that even if Filoa did feel threatened he could have easily walked away. "He knew [Umuhuri] ... posed no risk.
"He was caged in that car."
Taking the witness stand yesterday as the last witness of the trial, Filoa recounted a much different order of events. He said he had 14 grams of real meth ready to sell but was hit over the head with something hard as he was counting the cash, causing him to be dazed and only able to see in black and white.
"He was the one who was robbed," defence lawyer David Niven said during his closing address today. "Cliff did not have enough cash to complete the deal. When Michael called him out on this, Cliff blindsided him by hitting him in the head."
Filoa, he said, didn't know what he had been hit with, but he had good reason to believe it was the butt of a gun. So when his client heard clicking noises moments later, his frame of mind was only to protect himself, Niven said, describing it as a "legitimate, justifiable response".
Michael Filoa (left) and Aaron Davis are on trial for murder in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
It would make no sense for Filoa to call attention to himself by intentionally robbing and shooting someone when his entire illicit business depended on flying under the radar, he added.
During the trial, prosecutors called to the witness stand two friends of Umuhuri's who saw the incident unfold. A third witness - Hayden Gage, who was described as a Mongrel Mob prospect - could not be located to testify even after Justice Layne Harvey issued a warrant for his arrest.
Niven and fellow defence lawyer Marie Dyhrberg, QC, both focused on the missing witness during their arguments, pointing to testimony from others that Gage had run off immediately after the shooting and wasn't seen for the rest of the morning.
He perhaps ran off to hide a gun for Umuhuri that was never found, they suggested.
Dyhrberg described Davis as a "small time" dealer who would have seemed an easy target for "two Mongrel Mob heavies" and their two friends. She noted that the defendants pulling into a driveway for the deal while Umuhuri and his mates made sure to park on the side of the road in "quick getaway mode".
Dyhrberg also argued that even if jurors believed the defendants were trying to pass off fake drugs, it would at worst be a "scam" - not fitting the legal definition of robbery. But her client, she said, didn't intend a robbery or a scam and he didn't know his co-defendant had a gun.
Prosecutors described the defence contention that the defendants were the real victims as a "false narrative". It would make no sense for Gage to run away to hide a gun when Umuhuri was being shot at and could have used it at that moment, Dickey said.
He described Filoa and Davis as having picked the spot for the exchange, changing the location at the last minute and insisting that Umuhuri be the only person from his group in their car.
"That's a very bad plan to rob if it's Mr Umuhuri's," Dickey said, adding that Umuhuri was very far from his own territory in Bay of Plenty. "He's vulnerable, outnumbered."
He also pointed to Umuhuri's two bullet wounds - one on his side and the other on his buttocks. It suggests Umuhuri was shot in the back as he ran away after he finally got out of the car, he said. To fit the scenario described by Filoa, who said he quickly fired both shots into the car, Umuhuri would have been in a very odd, un-intimidating position with his "bum in the air" as he tried to find a way out of the car, Dickey argued.
"That's what it's come to, has it? Shooting people who are prone like that in self defence?" Dickey asked jurors. He answered his own question, describing Filoa's account as "nonsense".
