A High Court at Rotorua trial of five Murupara men charged with murdering 17-year-old Kaine Lewis has been aborted.
Justice John Priestley told the jury this afternoon that a combination of factors had led him to discharge them.
He hoped for the sake of the accused and the community of Murupara - 63km southeast of Rotorua - a new trial date would be set as quickly as possible.
He said he would speak to the Chief Justice about the need for this to happen.
"The fates have conspired against us,'' Justice Priestley said as he thanked the jurors for their public service.
On trial were Neville Duff, 33, Joshua Lesley-Whitu, 18, David Te Wharerangi Rewi, 25, Jerome Takere Rutene and Hemi Winitana, both 19.
All were charged with murdering Mr Lewis, of Kaingaroa, at nearby Murupara on October 3, 2009, and participating in an organised criminal group between October 2 and 3 that year.
On the murder count they were jointly charged with Norton Taoho, 19, who had earlier pleaded guilty to that charge, while the Crown had offered no evidence on the criminal group charge.
Another man, Jarrod Tumoana Rewi, 19, was discharged on the murder count but pleaded guilty to participating in an organised criminal group.
The accused are jointly charged with him on that.
A criminal group charge against Abraham Jozef Eruera Roberts, 24, was withdrawn after the Crown indicated it would not be offering any evidence against him.
Justice Priestley told the jury that as result of an application made today by Rotorua counsel Andy Schulze, he had been going to discharge them from reaching a verdict relating to David Rewi.
Rewi's original counsel, Herman Roose, of Tauranga, had a heart attack this week and Mr Schulze had been appointed to replace him.
Mr Schulze felt there were obstacles preventing him "getting up to speed'' and gaining his client's confidence, meaning the only option had been for Rewi to be discharged and tried separately.
This created problems for other counsel, as Rewi's defence would have impacted on some of the accused.
"That would have led to a reasonable number of the accused possibly not getting a fair trial and it is my obligation to ensure a fair trial for all accused,'' the judge said.
Another factor he had considered before calling the trial off was the huge number of disruptions there had been since it started last week.
These had effectively meant the jury had spent more time "hanging about'' than hearing evidence.
"As a result the trial has lost a lot of rhythm making it very, very difficult for you,'' Justice Priestley said, adding nobody was to blame.
From the outset the trial had been riddled with delays. Legal argument before the jury was selected led to it starting a week later than scheduled.
On its third day proceedings were interrupted when a pipe burst in the courtroom, so the trial moved to smaller courtroom, where district court trials are normally held.
Mr Roose became ill on Tuesday night this week and was admitted to Waikato Hospital.
On Wednesday, a video link with a pathologist in America was disrupted by technical difficulties. After it was restored and the pathologist had given his evidence-in-chief, the trial was adjourned until today to give Mr Schulze time to prepare to take over as Rewi's counsel.
