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It’s mid-morning by the time the members of the jury settle into their seats in the courtroom, more than an hour since they first arrived in the building. Watching them come in is Chief Justice Peter Underwood, a slender man engulfed by his flowing red robe. The curls of the white wig he wears contrast with his rather square, sharply featured face. He smiles as he offers an apology to the jury for their wait. “It wasn’t a good morning,” he says.
Indeed it was not. Earlier, a man is led out of remand for sentencing, only to be sent back because his legal aid lawyer can not be found. In another case the lawyer for the defence is also absent. He, at least, has been seen in the building that morning. “Well that’s a good start,” says the Chief Justice, with only a hint of sarcasm.
Sentencing in another matter is delayed until the afternoon, upon request of the Crown Prosecutor Kate Brown. By this stage the Chief Justice’s frustration is starting to show. He talks briefly about taking steps to avoid “jamming in” sentencing hearings on the same day as trial proceedings.
“What happened to the arrangement I thought we made to have sentencing on a wednesday?” he asks. The Crown Prosecutor looks at her feet. “I’m not sure, your honour” she says softly.
Finally it is time for the main matter of the morning, the Crown vs. Tarrant Nathan Harris. Mr Harris, 19, was celebrating his graduation from army training when he started drunkenly setting off marine flares. The first flare was a fizzer - it just managed to make it over the fence before burning out. Unperturbed, Mr Harris went to set off another. Holding the flare in one hand and a hatchet in the other, he struck the flare with the hatchet while his friend looked on, videoing the proceedings with his mobile phone. This flare worked perfectly. It crashed straight through his neighbours loungeroom window, setting the house ablaze.
Just before the jury files in, the Crown Prosecutor asks about a matter of law central to the case. She stumbles through the question for over a minute. Did it have to be proved that the accused foresaw the actual damage, or just that he should have known the flare had the potential to cause damage? The Chief Justice, after patiently sitting through the question, indicates towards the latter, and adds that it such a reading is surely “just a matter of common sense”.
Now that the jury is settled in and the first witness of the day is called, it does not get much better. A fire officer sits in the witness box as the court assistant hands to the jury photographs depicting the fire damage. Proceedings stop temporarily so that all involved may number each individual photo for ease of reference - a task, notes the Chief Justice, that “would normally be done by the Crown Prosecutor”. The Crown Prosecutor’s eyes once again shift temporarily to the floor.
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