A judge has begun his summing-up in the six-week trial of six young Timaru men charged with the murder of Wayne Kerry Bray, but the jury will not retire to consider its verdict until tomorrow morning.
Justice Mark Cooper said he expected to speak to the jurors all afternoon in the High Court at Christchurch, but would complete his summing up beginning at 9.30am tomorrow.
The jury will then retire and be kept together until it reached its verdicts, Christchurch's Court News website reported.
The six on trial are John Oliver Jamieson, 20, a fisherman, Morgan Christopher James Parker, 17, a freezing worker, Simon Antony Anglem, 17, a labourer, Ashley Jordan Moffat, 17, a butcher, Nicholas John Peters, 17, a freezing worker, and Daniel Raymond Kreegher, 19, a boner. They deny the joint charge of murder.
The crown has alleged the six took part in the punching, kicking, and stomping of 26-year-old Mr Bray - or encouraged the others - in the February 2 attack in Timaru.
None of the accused called evidence, and the last of the closing addresses by defence counsel was completed this morning, before the court took an early lunch break.
Justice Cooper then began his summing up at 1.40pm, on the 23rd day of the trial.
He said the jurors would need to set aside feelings of sympathy, prejudice, or animosity as they considered their verdicts.
He said that even though all six young men were being tried together, the case against each accused needed to be considered separately.
The crown said all of them had taken part in the assault on Mr Bray. "You need to consider the evidence against each accused to see if you accept the crown's contention," he told the jury.
