Jurors retire in caregivers' trial over death

Here Teinakirai and Joseph Proude. File photos / Brett Phibbs

A High Court jury has retired to consider whether two south Auckland caregivers are guilty of the manslaughter of an intellectually impaired woman they cared for.

Joseph Proude, 47, and Here Teinakirai, 53, both deny the manslaughter as a result of assault of Patricia Joseph, whose body was found floating in the Wairoa River near Clevedon, south of Auckland, by kayakers on January 20.

Teinakirai also denies a second manslaughter charge by omitting to seek medical care for Ms Joseph, and denies offering an indignity to Ms Joseph's body, which was wrapped in pieces of cloth, weighed down with a rock and put into the river.

Proude has admitted both of those charges.

Proude and Teinakirai have also denied a number of assault charges dating from October 2006, when they took over Ms Joseph's care.

The jury of seven men and five women retired about 12.30pm today after hearing Justice Pamela Andrews sum the case up.

Justice Andrews said that to find the pair guilty of the first manslaughter charge they had to find that they had committed an assault which caused Ms Joseph's death.

She said if jurors found them guilty of any of the assault charges, it was possible for jurors to consider this as evidence they had a tendency to commit assaults, such as one alleged to have caused Ms Joseph's death.

However, she even if they did decide the previous assaults happened, they couldn't jump from finding a propensity to assault to finding them guilty of manslaughter, without considering all other evidence of what happened in January 2008.

"You can't say that because both have assaulted Patricia Joseph in the past, then he or she must have done it this time."

The Crown argued Ms Joseph was assaulted about January 1, 2008 and left to die. Her body was dumped in the river on January 13.

Lawyers for Proude and Teinakirai both said there was not enough evidence to prove the guilt of their clients.

- NZPA