Lachlan Johnson, of Taranaki, defended a charge of murder in the High Court at New Plymouth. Photo / Tara Shaskey
Lachlan Johnson, of Taranaki, defended a charge of murder in the High Court at New Plymouth. Photo / Tara Shaskey
A man has been cleared of murdering his neighbour, but convicted of manslaughter.
The jury in the Taranaki case of Lachlan Johnson, 57, took only one hour to return a unanimous not guilty verdict to murder on Friday afternoon.
During the retrial, Johnson admitted he had killed Mitchell Mosen, 30, but claimed it was unintentional and amounted only to manslaughter, which the jury has accepted.
To convict him of murder, the jurors needed to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson's intent was to either kill Mosen or to cause him bodily injury knowing it was likely to cause death.
The jury retired to consider its verdict at 3.30pm after the prosecution and defence delivered their closing submissions and Justice Helen Cull summed up the case.
Johnson had been defending the murder charge in a retrial that began on Monday in the High Court at New Plymouth. The first trial in the matter was held in August last year and ended with a hung jury.
Mosen died on August 22, 2020, at his Korito Rd address, about 20km from New Plymouth, following an altercation with Johnson earlier in the day.
After the confrontation between the pair, which turned physical, Johnson, who also lived on Korito Rd, retrieved his semi-automatic shotgun from his house and headed to Mosen's.
There, Mosen was fatally shot in the chest by Johnson.
In his closing today, prosecutor Justin Marinovich said the Crown did not shy away from placing the murder charge before the court.
Evidence heard during the retrial proved it was an intentional killing, he claimed, before taking exception to defence lawyer Paul Keegan's earlier suggestion that the Crown's "version" of the case had been manufactured in order to get a murder conviction.
"We're not trying to get anything, the Crown aren't trying to do anything apart from place the evidence before you."
Such evidence as told to the court was Johnson's level of rage towards Mosen, and Johnson grabbing his gun while in that angered state for the purpose of retribution.
"The Crown hasn't contrived that the defendant on getting his shotgun intended to shoot Mitchell Mosen with that shotgun, the evidence is there."
It was heard that Johnson had barged into his house and pointed the gun at Mosen.
Mitchell Mosen, 30, died as a result of a gunshot wound to his chest. Photo / Supplied
Given that evidence, Marinovich asked the jury to consider what Johnson's intent was in that moment.
"His intent was either to kill Mitchell at that point or to inflict bodily injury knowing if he shoots he's likely to kill him."
The Crown claimed that a struggle then played out between the pair and six shots were fired by Johnson.
One bullet struck the victim in the right foot, another was the fatal wound to the left side of Mosen's chest, while four other shots sprayed elsewhere.
It was a conscious and intentional act to discharge the firearm, Marinovich said.
When the injured Mosen fell to the ground and yelled for help, his mother Patricia Mosen, who was a key witness in the retrial, attempted to call 111.
But Johnson tried to take the phone from her which Marinovich described as a lack of remorse and concern for his victim.
"It's pretty chilling in terms of what's happened at his hands and how he deals with it."
In the defence's final address, Keegan said Johnson's plan was to hurt Mosen by shooting him in the foot.
He said Johnson did not intend to shoot him in the chest and he did not intend to kill him.
Johnson shot Mosen in the foot first and then the struggle followed, during which five shots were fired, including the fatal one, Keegan said.
While the Crown suggested Johnson had full control over the gun during the struggle, Keegan said the entire case was marked by a complete lack of control - and not only in respect to emotions.
"In near pitch-black, two men desperately wrestle for control of a loaded firearm. This was a chaotic and desperate dance over the course of a matter of seconds."
An expert witness had described the gunfire as erratic, Keegan reminded the jury.
If Johnson was in control and filled with murderous intent, why did he waste bullets firing downwards and into the house, he questioned.
