The trial of a Northland leader accused of the indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl and attempting to pervert the course of justice has been aborted due to legal reasons.
Raniera (Sonny) Tau, 69, pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial in the
Whangārei District Court on Monday before Judge John McDonald and a jury of eight women and four men to six counts of indecently assaulting a female over the age of 16 and three of attempting to pervert the course of justice by offering the girl money to settle the matter out of court.
The alleged indecent assaults took place at Rangi Pt, in the Far North, on January 7, 2017, while the three other charges were allegedly committed between that date and October 9, 2019, in Whangarei, when it's alleged Tau on three occasions offered the girl money to settle the matter out of court.
However, on Tuesday, shortly after the Crown prosecutor Geraldine Kelly had opened the Crown case and defence counsel Arthur Fairley had outlined aspects of the defence that the jury needed to pay attention to, the trial was aborted.
A court spokesperson said the trial was been aborted and the jury discharged. The reasons are suppressed, but it was not due to any fault of either counsel or the defendant.
