Jury returns to ask judge question in police rape case

Two hours into deliberations the jury in the historic police rape case, came out of the jury room to ask whether police officers owned their own uniforms.

The jury of seven women and five men retired at 1pm today to decide verdicts on Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards, 45, and former policemen Brad Shipton, 47, and Bob Schollum, 53.

The men face twenty charges of rape, indecent assault and sexual violation against Louise Nicholas.

Judge Tony Randerson answered the jurors by directing them to sections of the 300 page transcript of evidence from the three week trial.

Mrs Nicholas alleges Rickards and Shipton visited her at her Corlett Street flat in Rotorua, between six to 12 times in the mid 1980s for sexual intercourse and oral sex without her consent.

She had testified in her evidence they sometimes wore their police uniforms and other times were dressed in suits.

Rickards and Shipton told the court they had consensual sex with Mrs Nicholas but they were CIB officers and were never dressed in police uniform.

Rickards gave evidence in his own defence last week and said he never wore police uniform during the time he was alleged to have raped Mrs Nicholas.

Rickards and Shipton were both uniformed police in the early 1980s.

Judge Randerson read out evidence to the jurors from retired Rotorua Sergeant Ray Sutton who said CIB officers were still expected to have a police uniform but not all CIB officers did.

Rickards defence lawyer John Haigh QC said yesterday Mrs Nicholas was lying when she said she saw Rickards in police uniform and her evidence had gaps "a mile wide".

Earlier in the day Judge Randerson spent three hours summing up the trial, he told the jury they had a difficult task ahead and reminded them there were effectively three trials in one.

He said they had to decide if Mrs Nicholas was a credible and reliable witness or whether she genuinely believed she was truthful but may have been mistaken.

- NZPA