WE deny stomping and kicking Joseua Lalauvaki, defence lawyer for Kelepi Kolinisau, Barbara Malimali said while giving her closing address to the three assessors at the High Court in Suva yesterday.
Mr Kolinisau is jointly charged with Selema Tikoenaburevere for the alleged murder of Lalauvaki after an altercation outside a Suva nightclub on September 2 last year.
Lalauvaki died at the CWM Hospital on October 11, 2018, from injuries allegedly sustained as a result of police assaults.
Ms Malimali told the assessors that Mr Kolinisau and his unit were only transporters that morning and whatever injuries Lalauvaki had sustained was not caused by her client.
She also highlighted in court that in this case, there had been more questions thrown up than answers and that evidence suggested that there was no joint enterprise.
Defence lawyer for Mr Tikoenaburevere, Akuila Naco, told the assessors to consider that the two accused persons’ never assaulted Lalauvaki and that senior police officers were trying to cover up their failures of not reporting a serious alleged incident that happened at the Totogo Police Station.
He told the court that the theory of the defence was based on that Lalauvaki had been involved in a prior brawl and assaulted at the nightclub before he was brought to the Totogo Police Station.
Judge Justice Vinsent Perera will sum up the case today.
