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Allegations
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The jury has retired at
the High Court in Auckland, following two-and-a-half weeks of evidence in the
case against three men on historical rape charges. Assistant Police
Commissioner Clint Rickards and former colleagues Brad Shipton, and Bob
Schollum face allegations that they raped and sexually assaulted Rotorua
woman Louise Nicholas in the mid 1980s. The jury of seven men
and five women heard a three hour summing-up from Justice Tony Randerson, the
presiding judge. Justice Randerson told
the jurors that to return a guilty verdict, they must be sure that Louise
Nicholas did not consent to sexual activity with the three policemen,
regardless of whether force was used. He said they must also
be sure the accused could not have reasonably believed that she gave her
consent. He went over all the
points of law that the jury needs to be consider, and summarised the
prosecution and the defence cases. Newstalk ZB's reporter
at the court, Maria Slade, said there has been a strong public presence in
the court today. She said the jury
members looked as if they were carrying a weight as they left the courtroom
to make up their minds. She says it will be a
tough job, as they consider all the evidence, and all the charges - each of
which has to be considered separately. She says going through all the
material is likely to take some time. |
