Nigel Fuatimu, 21, died at Jellicoe Park in Manurewa on Oct 3, 2020. Photo / Supplied
Nigel Fuatimu, 21, died at Jellicoe Park in Manurewa on Oct 3, 2020. Photo / Supplied
Two men accused of dropping a 7kg brick on the head of an unconscious stranger and kicking him repeatedly in the head have been acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.
Jurors in the High Court at Auckland deliberated just under four hours on Friday afternoon and today before reaching the verdicts for Isaac Ramese-Stanley and Simon Tavita, whose trial started one month ago. Co-defendant Kitiona Stanley - who was also in Manurewa's Jellicoe Park, where the attack occurred - was found guilty of assault with intent to injure.
Nigel Fuatimu's friends and family filled the gallery of the large courtroom, many wearing memorial T-shirts with his image, as the decision was announced.
Fuatimu had been playing loud Samoan music and singing with three friends at the park around 11pm on October 3, 2020, when prosecutors said they were attacked by the defendants without warning.
Ramese-Stanley and Tavita started the aggression, prosecutors alleged, by telling the group of strangers to turn down their music then immediately throwing a bottle at them. As Fuatimu's friends scattered and retreated, he wasn't so lucky, prosecutor Dale Dufty told jurors last week.
He and Tavita ended up wrestling on the ground in a bear-hug-like position before Fuatimu got the upper hand and was on top, witnesses said. At that point, Ramese-Stanley ran over and caused Fuatimu to fall unconscious. Prosecutors said the defendant kicked Fuatimu in the head, while lawyers for Ramese-Stanley said it was merely a shoulder-barge.
The two co-defendants then chased others before returning to the park moments later with a 7kg concrete block, which Tavita dropped on Fuatimu's head and neck area, prosecutors said, describing the act as one of "pure hatred". Both men denied the block was ever used as a weapon. Prosecutors said they then kicked Fuatimu in the head repeatedly.
While the defendants denied using the block and kicking Fuatimu repeatedly in the head, their lawyers suggested he could have died of natural causes due to the excitement of the situation combined with a pre-existing heart condition. They suggested it was one of Fuatimu's friends who started the fight. Any acts of violence the two committed were moderate and in self-defence, they argued.
Emergency services at the cordon of Manurewa's Jellicoe Park, where Nigel Fuatimu died in October 2020. Photo / Hayden Woodward
To reach a guilty verdict for either murder or manslaughter, jurors first had to decide if the co-defendants inflicted injuries that caused or substantially contributed to his death, Justice Paul Davison told the group as he summed up the case on Friday.
If jurors got that far, he said, they then needed to decide if the co-defendants attacked Fuatimu with "murderous intent" - meaning they meant to kill him or, alternatively, they meant to cause bodily injury knowing that it was likely to cause death and were reckless to that danger. Both scenarios equate to murder, they were told.
But if Fuatimu died as a result of an assault without murderous intent, the co-defendants would instead be found guilty of manslaughter.
Jurors also had the option of finding Ramese-Stanley guilty as a party, meaning he aided or encouraged Tavita even if they weren't convinced he inflicted the fatal blows.
The Crown's case relied in part on the recollections of three of Fuatimu's friends who were also in the park that night and a friend of the defendants who pleaded guilty to his involvement and testified against them.
Of the eight people in the park that night, all had been drinking, with some of them described as heavily intoxicated. As a result, it's possible not all testimony was accurate even if witnesses didn't intend it that way, Justice Davison told jurors.
But a post-mortem toxicology report showed that Fuatimu had the equivalent of only a couple of drinks in his system when he died. Prosecutors described him as a humble, conscientious man who was large in stature but unlikely to have started a fight.
After the verdict, Ramese-Stanley and Tavita were remanded in custody to await sentencing next month. Kitiona Stanley, who was not involved in the fatal attack on Fuatimu but targeted one of the victim's friends, was allowed to remain on bail until his sentencing on the same day.
