Three Taranaki police officers have been found not guilty of the manslaughter of Allen Ball.
The three officers can also now be named. They are Corey Waite, Sandra Shaw, and Craig Longworth. They had been stood down from their duties at the time charges were laid.
The jury, made up of seven women and four men, had retired to deliberate earlier on Thursday. They returned their verdicts to the High Court at New Plymouth about three hours later.
Ball, 55, had been arrested and was in the cells at Hāwera Police Station when he died in the early hours of July 1, 2019.
Throughout the three-week-long trial, the court heard Ball had consumed at least a litre of bourbon following a family harm incident. He was unresponsive when six people carried him into the cell.
He was found unresponsive by one officer at 2:23am and an ambulance was called. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
The Crown argued the three officers were grossly negligent in their duty of care and had they given Ball appropriate medical attention, he likely would have survived. But defence lawyer Kylie Pascoe believed her client had been let down by the New Zealand Police, saying nowhere in their training was there mention of snoring being an indicator of respiratory distress.
Before the jury deliberated their verdict, Justice Susan Thomas urged them to dismiss any prejudice they may have in this case, whether that be against Ball, who had been arrested for an alleged assault on his partner, or against the officers due to recent international cases involving police misconduct.
For police, this was a difficult prosecution against three of their own - it was only the second manslaughter charge against officers in the history of the New Zealand Police.
During the trial, much was made of inadequate training. Since Ball's death, there have been changes to some police protocol and the training officers receive.
But there are still two investigations underway - one by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and the other by the Coroner. It's hoped these findings will present more that can be learnt from this tragedy.
