Gosnell 'bullied' into not giving evidence

  • Breaking
  • 28/04/2014

Convicted murderer Gavin Gosnell says he could have disproved key evidence in his trial for the murder of Hayden Miles, but was bullied into not taking the stand.

Gosnell is seeking to have his conviction overturned in the Court of Appeal for murdering the Christchurch teenager, cutting up his body and burying it in two locations.

Gosnell, who appeared via video link from Christchurch Men's Prison, is serving a minimum non-parole period of 18 years. He was sentenced in the Christchurch High Court in June last year for Mr Miles' murder and offering indignity to a dead body.

At his sentencing Gosnell dismissed his lawyer, Craig Ruane, claiming Mr Ruane had not acted in his best interests. He vowed to appeal his murder conviction, saying he admitted to assaulting Mr Miles and dismembering the body, but could not take responsibility for his murder.

During today's hearing, Gosnell said at least one of his statements to police, in which he described the killing of Mr Miles, was made when he wasn't of "sound mind".

"I have post-traumatic stress disorder. I think I dream things when they're happening, I believe I have mixed-up memories about what happened to Hayden," Gosnell said.

Crown Prosecutor John Pike QC argued Mr Ruane could see no legal basis where the statement could be excluded as evidence, to which Gosnell replied: "If he had my interests in mind he would have put in before the courts to get it withdrawn."

Gosnell also says he wasn't aware he could choose his own lawyer because of the nature of the charges he faced, until a few weeks before the trial.

"If I had known that, I would have chosen [current lawyer] Tony [Rickard-Simms]."

Gosnell accused Mr Ruane of "bullying" him into not giving evidence, which he says would have disproved evidence from one witness, and showed that someone else killed Mr Miles. Mr Ruane told him however that his testimony had no evidential value.

Gosnell says he wrote a note to Mr Ruane making it clear he wanted to give evidence at his trial.

"I always assumed I was getting in the dock... I wanted to put my side of the story across."

But it wasn't until Mr Ruane told the jury that Gosnell wasn't going to give evidence he realised he wouldn't be testifying.

Mr Ruane told the court he knew it was "certainly" possible Gosnell could end up giving evidence during a trial because of his insistence he had no intention of killing Mr Miles.

However, Mr Ruane believed there would have been several problems with Gosnell taking the stand.

He said Gosnell could be "fairly discursive" in answering questions and also would have been subject to extensive cross-examination by the Crown Prosecutor, had he given evidence. The jury was also given a form which explained Gosnell's mental state.

"If the trial could be run without him giving evidence, then that was by far the better position for him," he said.

He denied forcing Gosnell not to take the stand.

"I gave him advice, I gave him firm advice, but in the end it was his decision."

Miles' friends and family filled half the public gallery this morning.

Gosnell was found guilty by a jury last year, who heard Mr Miles who died in August 2011 following a fight at Gosnell's Linwood flat.

Gosnell used a knife and a saw to cut the body into 12 parts and buried them in unmarked graves at two Christchurch cemeteries.

The hearing is set down for the rest of the day and the justices are expected reserve their decision.

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source: newshub archive