Huata jury adjourns after five hours' deliberation

A jury of nine women and three men hearing the Donna Awatere Huata fraud trial adjourned without a verdict last night after more than five hours of deliberating.

They retired at lunchtime yesterday after Judge Roderick Joyce told them they were the only arbiters of fact in deciding if the former Act MP and her husband Wi Huata were guilty of the charges.

In summing up, the judge said although he would interpret and rule on matters of law, it was up to the jury to decide on matters of fact.

The couple have denied a total of seven charges. Each faces four joint charges of fraud and one joint charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Awatere Huata faces two additional fraud charges.

They follow allegations that the pair used $82,000 for personal use after misappropriating it from the Government-funded Pipi Foundation - a charitable trust set up by Awatere Huata in 1999 to help Maori children improve their social and literacy skills.

Over three years, the foundation received $840,000 in Government funding but the Serious Fraud Office alleges some of that paid for Awatere Huata's stomach-stapling operation and school fees for two of the couple's children.

After three weeks of evidence in the Auckland District Court, Judge Joyce told the jurors they had to decide which witnesses could be believed and which could not.

He said there was no "simple one size fits all" formula for assessing evidence.

The Crown must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and it was not up to the defence to prove innocence.

- NZPA