Man collapses, crying, on murder guilty verdict

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 14

Man collapses, crying, on murder guilty verdict

PA Dunedin A man, aged 19, collapsed, crying, in the dock this week after a High Court jury in Dunedin found him guilty of murdering his next-door neigbour. David Kenneth Smith repeatedly cried out “I didn’t mean to do it — you’ve got to believe me,” as Mr Justice Hardie Boys imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. Smith’s mother and another family member also cried out as the jury’s verdict was announced after six hours of deliberation. When two prison officers had taken Smith downstairs from the dock, his Honour directed that all the medical and psychiatric reports relating to Smith’s mental condition and the treatment he had been having for it should be made available to the prison authorities. He also excused the eight men and four women on the jury from any further attendance for jury service this week. Smith was charged with murder after Mr Dimond was found dead on his lounge floor with a large knife embedded in his chest.

He had also been beaten about the face and head. While Smith did not deny that he had stabbed Mr Dimond, he denied that he intended to kill or harm him. Two and a half weeks after the incident, he told two psychiatrists that he acted as he did after Mr Dimond confronted him with the knife. Evidence in the case was that the deceased was a paranoid schizophrenic who, as a result of long term medication for that condition, also suffered from a marked Parkinson’s disease tremor in his limbs. Smith was assessed by psychiatrists as not legally insane, but suffering from a depressive illness with intrusive violent thoughts and urges. He had been attending as an out-patient for this condition for several months before the killing, having voluntarily sought treatment. The final Crown witness was a neighbour of both Mr Dimond and Smith, who knew both men by sight but not personally. David lan Johnson said he had seen Smith arrive home in his car at 12.15 a.m. on June 11 and walk down the path leading to

his and Mr Dimond’s houses. It was about 1.30 a.m. when he saw an ambulance and police vehicles arrive at the address. Crown counsel, Mr Robin Bates, in his final address, told the jurors that, if they looked at the evidence and used their common sense, they would be satisfied the alleged attack on Smith by Mr Dimond did not occur, and that it was simply a belated suggestion by the accused to justify "an horrific incident” about which he was no doubt remorseful. Defence council, Mr Colin Withall, said the account given by Smith was consistent with all the undisputed, proved facts, and there was clear-cut evidence from which the jury could draw inferences about what had happened. Summing up, his Honour said that a great deal obviously turned on Smith’s state of mind at the time the fatal blows were struck. While the only way to judge a person’s state of mind, unless they described it, was by their actions at the time, very often what was said and done then spoke louder than what was said later .