A fifth man has pleaded not guilty to the fatal shooting of patched Head Hunters member Charles Pongi in an East Auckland park, nine months after his four co-defendants.
Papakura resident Vini Steven Mahoni, 20, briefly appeared before Justice Mathew Downs at the High Court in Auckland this morning as the plea was entered on his behalf by his lawyer.
He was ordered to join the four others, including older brother George Mahoni, during the four-week murder trial already scheduled for next August.
Pongi, 32, was fatally shot on August 5 last year amid what is alleged to have been a planned brawl at Taurima Reserve in Pt England involving members of the Head Hunters, Rebels MC and their associates. He was able to drive himself to Auckland City Hospital but did not survive the wound.