The unexpected can turn a case into a crisis. I was involved in running a homicide trial where two brothers were charged with kidnapping and murdering the manager of a duty free warehouse and burying his body in a grave they dug for him a month earlier. The brother who drew a map showing the remote location of the grave site and confessed, pleaded guilty at the start of the trial. This was completely unexpected by everyone; even his own lawyer. This left us with a weakened case against the other brother; who we knew was the principal killer.
The judge granted us 24 hours to re-organise our case. As we sat in the Crown Solicitors office minutes later we knew we had to find evidence against the one remaining, or there was a good chance he would walk free.
That evening I visited a friend of the accused (I’ll call him John) who we were calling to give minor evidence. I had a gut feeling he knew more than he was letting on. After answering my door knock John said; “I wondered when you would come to see me – you better come upstairs”.
It turned out that John visited his friend at Mt Eden prison two days before. The accused confided in him that he strangled the victim and he was going to get away with it because his brother was pleading guilty so that his video-taped confession is not played to the jury. John provided a written statement that night and testified because of the arrogance of his ‘friend’ thinking he would get away with it. I asked John why he had not contacted police before my visit. He said he thought we had enough evidence to convict without his further testimony.
John withstood strong cross examination and gave compelling evidence which contributed to the real killer being held accountable. The unexpected guilty plea provided us the opportunity to critically examine our case and assess how it could be strengthened. John’s full testimony may well have made the difference. DP