Boy found not guilty on murder charge

Press, 24 June 1985, Page 20

Boy found not guilty on murder charge

PA . Rotorua A youth, aged 15, was discharged by the High Court at Rotorua on Friday when a jury found him not guilty on a charge of the murder of a man said to have frequently beaten up his mother.

Stewart Douglas Koopu, a student, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charge which alledged he had shot George Ron Davis at Rotorua on February 26.

Koopu had pleaded not guilty. Counsel, Mr J. T. M. Chadwick, in submissions on Friday had been a swell of violence throughout the case. A cruicial point was what the youth thought as he faced the man who had torn his family apart. “I appeal to you as mothers and fathers of sons to say that he is not guilty of murder or of anything,”

said Mr Chadwick. “I think the world would understand,” he said. In his address, the Crown prosecutor, Mr J. D. Dillon, said that the jury had an onerous responsibility in deciding the fate of the youth. It also had the responsibility to uphold the law. It was for the jury to decide if the accused was guilty or not guilty of murder or of manslaughter and to decide whether his plea of self-defence was justified.

Mr Dillon told the jury that it was proper for it to return a manslaughter verdict if it was not satisfied that murder was not proved. Discharging Koopu, Mr Justice Savage said that the case was a sad one. It had been neccessary for there to be a trial in Court on what had happened, as Mr Davis had been shot dead.

In an ordered society such as New Zealand’s, the

legal process had to decide what should be done. It would not be left to individuals, His Honour said.