KEY POINTS:
Fearful witnesses whose testimony helped secure three murder convictions in the Jhia Te Tua case were given protection on an unprecedented scale, say police.
The evidence given anonymously by 22 people was "absolutely crucial" in the five-week trial, which ended at the High Court in Wellington yesterday, said Senior Sergeant David Kirby.
Three men linked to the Mongrel Mob were found guilty of the Wanganui two-year-old's murder, after a jury deliberated for only five hours.
Jhia was killed during a drive-by gang shooting last May when a shot from a high-powered rifle hit her in the chest as she slept on the couch in her Wanganui home.
The shooter, Hayden Wallace, 27, and the drive-by instigator, father-of-seven Karl Check, 26, were found guilty of Jhia's murder, along with Ranji Forbes, 21.
Richard Puohotaua, 28, was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter but guilty of the lesser charge of taking part in a criminal group. The fifth man in court, and only one to walk free, Luke Check, was found not guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Eight others involved in the killing pleaded guilty to a variety of charges before and during the trial. Speaking after yesterday's verdicts, Mr Kirby told media that every witness who requested it and put their fears in writing was granted anonymity.
He understood the trial had been the most extensive use yet of anonymity orders available under the Evidence Act, which came into force in August last year.
Anonymous witnesses gave their evidence via closed-circuit television from an undisclosed location. The image that appeared on the screen was blurred and some had their voices electronically distorted as well.
Other witnesses gave evidence via closed-circuit television, although their pictures were shown in court and their names known, and some were in court but a screen in front of the witness box meant they could not see the accused and the accused could not see them.
Outside the court, Jhia's father, who now has the words "Jhia Harmony" tattooed on his jaw, nodded that he was happy with the verdicts and said the loss of his daughter could not be put into words.
"If you have kids you'll feel it," he told the Dominion Post.
Under the watchful of eye of 10 police, Te Tua and other Black Power gang members donned their patches on the street, where one of them was arrested after hitting a television cameraman.
- NZPA
