KEY POINTS:
The lawyer for one of the five people charged over the abuse of dead Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie lashed out at the media yesterday following his client's court appearance.
Wiremu Curtis, 17, appeared in the Auckland District Court in the morning and was remanded on bail to appear in Rotorua District Court tomorrow.
He was already on remand and his strict bail conditions remain in place.
Curtis faces one charge of assaulting Nia, his 3-year-old stepdaughter, who died in the Starship hospital in Auckland on August 3 after almost two weeks in a coma.
Four other people from Nia's extended family have been charged in relation to the abuse and are in custody. They are William Curtis, 47, Michael William Curtis, 21, Michael Paul Pearson, 19, and Oriwa Terrina Kemp, 17.
Wiremu Curtis, who was wearing a grey hoodie, arrived at court yesterday with his brother and mother.
He stood motionless in the dock, slouching slightly with his head turned away from the public gallery.
Outside court, his lawyer Barry Hart accused the media of pre-judging his client, and said New Zealand was becoming more like the United States.
"Our client is presumed to be innocent. In a free and democratic society it's important that people do not make up their minds until the end of all the evidence - and we haven't heard any evidence - and in fact the way it is at the moment the press has really publicised this in a way that has pre-judged him and that is not fair," he said.
"In this country everyone is entitled to a fair trial. We are all presumed to be innocent and I would like everyone to respect that.
"We are starting to move like it is in America, where the press actually pre-judge all of what occurs prior to the actual hearing itself and that isn't fair. It should be limited to facts as to what is alleged to have happened, fair enough, but not opinions based on that."
