Clifford Umuhuri was fatally shot in June 2020. Photo / Supplied
Clifford Umuhuri was fatally shot in June 2020. Photo / Supplied
An Auckland-based drug dealer accused of bringing fake methamphetamine and a gun to an illicit pre-dawn sale - resulting in the shooting death of a senior Mongrel Mob gang member who was supposed to be the buyer - has been found guilty of murder.
Jurors in the High Court at Auckland returned the guilty verdict against Michael Filoa this afternoon after three days of deliberations.
However, Filoa was found not guilty of robbery. Co-defendant Aaron Davis was acquitted of both murder and robbery.
Clifford Umuhuri, who as sergeant-at-arms was the third highest ranking member of the Mongrel Mob's Bay of Plenty chapter, was found dead on a residential Grafton street near Auckland Hospital on the morning of June 1, 2020.
He had been shot a short time earlier in another quiet residential neighbourhood roughly 8km away and had bled to death while arguing with his mates about not wanting to be taken to hospital.
Michael Filoa (left) and Aaron Davis were on trial for murder in the High Court at Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
Lawyers for the two defendants acknowledged at the start of the trial late last month that Filoa had fired the shots that killed Umuhuri and Davis, the driver of their vehicle, had set up the deal. But they denied bringing decoy drugs or any intention to rob the buyer.
Filoa would later testify that he only shot in self-defence after Umuhuri attacked him while attempting to rob them of the drugs. Davis elected not to testify but prosecutors played for jurors a police interview in which he denied any involvement.
Umuhuri had been in Auckland on what defence lawyers equated to a "business trip" for the Bay of Plenty Mongrel Mob - spending thousands of dollars on a meth-buying spree. The nation was in its first Covid-19 lockdown and supply-chain issues had made the drug scarce and more expensive, said a witness who described Umuhuri in a text as Bay of Plenty's largest dealer.
In his summing up of the case last week, Justice Layne Harvey urged jurors not to be prejudiced by meth usage, gang affiliation or media reports of increasing gun violence associated with robberies and drugs.
"Everyone, including Mr Umuhuri, are entitled to the protection of the law," he said. "The lifestyles of the deceased and his associates are not on trial here."
The shooting scene on June 1, 2020, was roughly 8km from the spot where Clifford Umuhuri was found dead.
The judge also instructed jurors not to take into account the disappearance of witness Hadyn Gage, described by other witnesses as a Mongrel Mob prospect who was present when Umuhuri was shot. The judge issued a warrant for Gage's arrest after he failed to appear to testify, but law enforcement could not locate him in the week that followed.
Jurors did, however, hear from Gage's sister, Beatrice Gage, who was also present at the shooting. She also initially failed to appear but was located soon after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
During two days of tense, reluctant testimony in which she frequently slung profanity-laden insults at lawyers and fellow witnesses, she described seeing a scuffle inside Davis' car following by Filoa shooting at Umuhiri as he tried to flee the vehicle. But she was also "fried" after days of meth and LSD use, she acknowledged.
A police tent covers the scene where Clifford Umuhuri was found dead on a residential street in Grafton. Photo / Dean Purcell
Other witnesses during the trial included a friend of Davis' and his partner at the time who both recounted him saying he had no meth to sell but arranged the deal anyway, even though "no good ever comes" of such set-ups.
But Davis' lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, QC, said her client was a small time dealer who earnestly agreed to a simple, straight-forward drug deal. Even if jurors believed the substance her client brought to the drug deal was fake, that would amount to a scam rather than robbery, she argued.
All 12 jurors deliberated for the first two days, but the group dwindled the nine today after three others tested positive for Covid-19. Lawyers for both men agreed to continue on with nine.
