PARTIES in the Julian Hendrich case informed the High Court in Suva yesterday of the legal grounds on which they would present their arguments.
Mr Hendrich, who was charged with manslaughter for allegedly causing the death of Sione Tufui outside a nightclub in Suva on June 21, 2014, appeared before Justice Salesi Temo.
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions counsel Timoci Qalinauci told the court they would rely on the confession of the accused during the caution interview and the accused’s intend to cause serious injuries with his reckless punches and kicks to the victim.
Mr Qalinauci said they had served the agreed facts to the defence and would await their response. He said they would also look to the three eyewitnesses, a pathologist for the post-mortem examination reports and the police officers who conducted the interview as part of their state witnesses.
Naco Chambers counsel Akuila Naco for the defence asked the court if he could be given more time to look through the agreed facts between the State and Suva-based Lawyer Filimone Vosarogo who was the previous defence counsel.
Mr Naco brought to the court’s attention the past correspondence between Mr Vosarogo and the prosecution saying they needed to get further instructions on the admission because the accused admitted during the caution interview that he threw one punch at the accused outside the nightclub.
He said the defence would look to four witnesses.
The agreed date of the one-week trial was set by Justice Temo and it would commence on February 27 to March 3, 2017.
