Accused policemen not giving evidence in Kali Fungavaka trial [1]
Thursday, May 1, 2014 - 18:22
The five policemen accused of manslaughter in the death of Kali Fungavaka have chosen not to give evidence in the trial at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court after the Crown concluded its final witness today, May 1.
The court heard from the defence counsel their decision not to call any witnesses nor would the accused give evidence.
Mr Justice Cato then adjourned to Monday, May 5 to hear final submissions from counsel.
Meanwhile, the Crown's final witness the Deputy Police Commissioner ‘Unga Fa’aoa who led the investigation into Kali’s death said in his evidence in chief that he first learnt of the incident on August 21, 2012 some days after Kali was taken into hospital.
He said after being briefed on the nature of the case he believed it being a high profile case that it should be dealt with by the Serious Crime Unit. Starting from August 21 the unit took over the investigation and members were selected from various units and divided into different roles ranging from dealing with the suspects, witnesses and the deceased's body.
The court heard when they took over one person a civilian Semisi Kalisitiane Manu who was in cell 7 and two other accused officers Maile and Faletau had already been identified. During the course of the investigation other suspects were arrested after more evidence were gathered and we had the confidence for the other accused to be brought in, he said.
The witness confirmed the five accused policemen were members of a Tactical Response Group (TRG). This unit were issued standard police overalls, torches, belts and handcuffs for duty, he told the court.
He said on August 31, 2012 the operation carried out a search warrant at the accused homes and work place where evidence were seized including two big torches, two small torches, boots and handcuffs.
The Crown produced two big black torches in court and asked the witness to point out which of the accused officers were they seized from.
He identified one was seized from Hala’ufia’s home while the other was seized from Vakalahi’s work area located at the compound of the police headquarters in Longolongo where the TRG are based.
The witness also confirmed that these two torches were exactly the same ones issued to the TRG.
Mirror
In addition, pieces of mirror were also obtained from the prison cells at the Nuku'alofa Police station that prisoners on the night had apparently used to see what happened.
The Crown produced three pieces of mirror in court with one identified to have been seized from a witness Taniela Vaka who was detained in the cell on the night Kali was brought into custody.
The witness said in order to confirm the credibility of the statements given by detainees in cell 3 and 4 who said they used a piece of mirror to look to the front where the incident took place, he carried out his own demonstration on the night of September 3, 2012 between 8-9pm.
He went into cell 4 and 3 and used the piece mirror to look to the watch house at the front. "The result I can confirm I was able to see into the the place the incident took place using the piece of mirror,” the witness told the court.
The witness said that Maile, Faletau and civilian Manu were first arrested around August 22-23. The two accused officers were initially detained together in a cell at the Nuku’alofa Police station for about a week before they were moved to the Nukunuku police station and were released on bail after.
He said after Kali died on August 23, 2012 - on September 27, 2012 after a general review of the evidence from their investigation including the result of the examination done by the pathologist in New Zealand all the accused were arrested and charged with the charges they are facing in this trial. He said some 123 witnesses had provided statements during the investigation.
“Did you receive any complaints from witnesses that the interviewing officers excluded their evidence or some of their statements,” asked the Crown Prosecutor. He said no he did not receive any complaints.
He said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) at the request of the Police Commissioner had carried out an independent assessment of their investigation.
“What was the result of that assessment?” He answered AFP found that the investigation operation was more than satisfactory apart from minor issues regarding victim support.
The police witness completed his evidence after cross-examination from the defence counsels.
Defence
After the Crown Prosecutor ended its case, 'Ofa Pouono the counsel representing Maile, Tu’ivai and Vakalahi informed the court the defence side's decision not to call any witnesses nor would their clients give evidence. The other two counsel Palu Taufateau acted for Hala’ufia while Siaosi Fifita for Faletau.
The accused Police Inspector Kelepi Hala‘ufia and Police Constables Salesi Maile, Tevita Vakalahi, Manu Tu’ivai, Fatai Faletau who are being tried by judge alone have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter with an alternative charge of grievous bodily harm.
A second trial will be a jury trial of the civilian accused, Semisi Kalisitiane Manu is expected to start this month.