Urewera 4 Trial Day 24 - The Verdicts In

Operation 8: Day 24, Tuesday March 20th
The Verdicts In
by Annemarie Thorby

JUDGE – 'The jury is about to deliver verdicts. I want to address the members of the public present in court. I appreciate for many of you this has been a very stressful time and that the delivery of verdicts will be an emotional experience. However I must ask you out of deference to others involved, the accused themselves and the jury in particular, you must refrain from disrupting the process of the delivery of the verdicts and that should there be any conduct that affects that process, I will have no option but to ask that the court be cleared.'

Then jury came back in at 5.32pm.

The Court Register called for the accused to be placed before the court ; the accused came in and all the supporters stood in solidarity.

She asked, 'In relation to Count One, I understand there is no unanimous verdict in relation to any of the accused?'

The jury foreperson confirmed that was correct.

The Court Registrar then asked did the jury reach a majority verdict, and the Foreperson answered, 'Yes, we have.' There were gasps from amongst the supporters.

The judge then asked the Foreperson to sit down and then he addressed her.

'Madame Foreperson, I have understood from an earlier comment that you were unable to reach majority verdicts in relation to Count One.'

The Foreperson answered, 'That is correct, we are unable.'

The Registrar then read out the remaining eleven counts, these were the Firearm possession charges. They were read in order, and for each charge she first asked for a verdict in relation to Tame Iti, then Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, Urs Signer and last Emily Bailey.

The results were:
Count Two:
Tame Iti: Not Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Not Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Not Guilty

Count Three:
Tame Iti: Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Guilty, Urs Signer: Guilty, Emily Bailey: Guilty

Count Four:
Tame Iti: Not Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Not Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Not Guilty

Count Five:
Tame Iti: Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Guilty

Count Six:
Tame Iti: Not Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Not Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Not Guilty

Count Seven: (a count in relation to Molotov Cocktails) Tame Iti: Not Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Not Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Not Guilty

Count Eight:
Tame Iti: Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Guilty

Count Nine: (a count in relation to Molotov Cocktails) Tame Iti: Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Guilty

Count Ten:
Tame Iti: Guilty, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Guilty, Urs Signer: Not Guilty, Emily Bailey: Guilty

Count Eleven:
Emily Bailey: Guilty, Urs Signer: Guilty

Count Twelve:
Tame Iti: Guilty

Count Thirteen:
Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara: Guilty

The jury then confirmed that they had reached unanimous verdicts on those counts.

The situation was Count One, Participation in an Organised Group – no verdict was able to be reached. Counts Two to Twelve: Tame Iti, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara and Emily Bailey not-guilty on four of the charges, and Urs Signer was not-guilty on five of the charges.

The judge then addressed the defendants: 'Tame Iti, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, Urs Signer and Emily Bailey, on all of the counts that you have been found guilty, you are convicted. You are remanded for a pre-sentence report at 9am on the 24th May. You may stand down now...'

The four then left the dock.

The judge then addressed the jury:

'Before I invite you to retire, I want to express my sincere thanks for how you discharged your duties. The task you just accomplished is essential to our criminal justice system. It is one of the most important duties a citizen of our country can carry out and the most onerous.'

'I know it involved great difficulties for you. You agreed to set aside your normal life and come to this unfamiliar surroundings and spend many, many hours deliberating on your verdicts. All of you have done this under the additional pressure which has derived from the high public interest in this case.'

'No one who has observed this trial would suggest that you have not come to your verdict without paying careful attention to the evidence.'

'You have discharged your duties in exemplary fashion with great wisdom and great dignity. The community is very much in your debt.'

He then invited the jury to retire.

At this stage the Crown Prosecutor, Ross Burns, said that the Crown opposed bail and court immediately went into chambers.

However, after the time in chambers bail was granted to all the accused until 24th May. Count One was set down for a call-over date of 18th April.

ENDS

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