Tue 18 Oct 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Denis Phillips 6.15PM: Despite repeated denials by the defendant the Crown is adamant there was some type of sexual intimacy between Willie Ahsee and the gay Papakura man he fatally stabbed, which made him upset and angry. Crown Prosecutor David Johnstone has closed the Crown's case by asserting Ahsee murdered temporary-sworn police officer Denis Phillips in his Papakura home on 31 July 2010, when he stabbed him in the head with a steak knife, severing his vertebral artery. The defence, which will close its case its case tomorrow morning, contends the teenager did not intend to stab Phillips. The defendant, who is now 17 but was 16 at the time of the stabbing, has given evidence that the 59-year-old victim, his 'boxing trainer,' made advances on him while they were drinking, touching his thigh in an attempt to grab his "nut" and later touching his ear. He said in the wake of this he simply wanted the older man to get out of the way so he could get out of the house, when he grabbed the closest item, a knife, and swung his arm around and accidentally stabbed Phillips in the head, before a fight ensued. Willie Ahsee (pic: Bebo) The Crown believes there was some sexual contact between Phillips and Ahsee, but contends it was not Phillips' touching the younger man's thigh and ear. Johnstone pointed to saliva stains found on the crotch of Phillips' shorts and nipple area of his singlet as "supporting forensic evidence for the proposition of physical touching in much more significant way than Ahsee is prepared to admit". Johnstone said the Crown contends there were grounds for Ahsee to be upset and angry at the lengths he was having to go to, to secure alcohol and weight lifting sessions from Phillips. The Crown prosecutor took the position that this created the backdrop to the later violence, “Given the likelihood of greater intimacy than he’s prepared to let on, and the forceful way he reacted to the suggestion when I made it, that lends support to the proposition that within his mood that evening there was a sense of disgruntlement, tension or concern about what was going on." Johnstone disputed the school of thought that Phillips would not take "no" for an answer, saying there was no evidence from either of the young male witnesses who reported Phillips making various advances on them that he became antagonistic when they said no. “There is nothing in Mr Phillips’ past behaviour with other young men to suggest he might be violent in a way that needs a response,” he said. “This is not a beauty contest, this case. This is not your victim is less deserving that the accused, that he was not a nice man and therefore the accused wins,” Johnstone told the jury, adding that whether or not Phillips was nice or 'deserved what was coming to him' should have no place in their deliberations. The Crown believes there is evidence a bloodied and injured Phillips at one stage showered and got something from his room, before falling in the hallway where he died. It said he conceivably didn't know how badly he was injured. On the issue of why Phillips didn't call the police, Johnstone suggested it was because the police employee was in a situation where he’d invited a young man into his home and drunk heavily with him. "Inconsistencies" Johnstone said there were some “marked inconsistencies” between what Ahsee told police and what he said on the stand. He cited as one example Ahsee’s original statement to police that he could remember nothing other than going to Phillips’ house and drinking, then blacking out, then realising he had blood on his hands. He pointed out the account Ahsee gave on the stand yesterday had much more detail, from his recollection of sitting at Phillips' table drinking, to being touched across the table by the older man, to going into the kitchen to get a bottle opener before the stabbing occurred. The prosecutor said this was “starkly inconsistent” with what Ahsee told police the day after and asked jury to be cautious about accepting the explanation that loss of memory and ultimate return of parts of it was due to alcohol, saying there has to be prompting or invention as someone's memory does not come back to them independently. Johnstone pointed out there were also inconsistencies about a bottle Ahsee said he took from Phillips' house and broke outside his own house that night. The prosecutor said Ahsee told police the next day he didn’t know where he got bottle from, but when giving evidence on the stand he said he took it from Phillips’ house. “He was making it up,” Johnstone asserted. The prosecutor said there were also inconsistencies about when Ahsee first did weights at Phillips’ house and though he conceded this was minor added: “These are the things you can gain a sense of credibility from”. Johnstone cited a more serious example of such inconsistencies as the change from the day after the stabbing, when Ahsee told police he had stabbed someone in the chest, to yesterday when he said he only realised he had stabbed someone when he saw blood on his hands. “Really Mr Ahsee during his evidence has adopted the course of preferring not to remember things which don’t assist his case and re-enlivening memories of things which do assist his case. "I suggest to you his evidence is unreliable, his story has changed. Even yesterday his account waxed and waned as to what the position was.” Johnstone said Ahsee gave evidence Phillips shouted at him, but didn’t know how loud it was or how it sounded. He said Phillips pushed, kicked or punched him when questioned by defence, but later stated “I don’t know I just fell over” and couldn’t remember if he felt something on his body before he fell. He said the hesitancy of Ahsee's account may suggest to the jury it was a fabrication, as Ahsee was so lacking in confidence that when pushed with persistent questioning he couldn’t answer. Another issue Johnstone raised was that of where Phillips was in the kitchen when the fatal stab wound was inflicted, as Ahsee once said he was behind him, another time said he was blocking him and the final time said he was near the kitchen windows where he would be unable to block him into the kitchen. The forensic evidence The Crown compared a number of Ahsee's statements to forensic evidence and concluded what he said did not match up, such as his suggestion he may have spat on Phillips shorts, which were found in the lounge, accounting for the stain of his saliva found on them. However Johnstone asserted this was not possible as the saliva was found on the inside of the shorts and claimed this is where Ahsee "got into hot water" when giving evidence and the spitting claim was a fabrication. The prosecutor said another account that doesn’t fit with the ESR evidence was Ahsee's assertion he had not fought Phillips in the kitchen after stabbing him, which does not match ESR evidence in regards to the blood spatter in kitchen. Johnstone said when asked why he picked up the knife, Ahsee first said he thought Phillips was going to attack him, then said he didn’t remember why he picked up the knife, and said he wasn’t scared at the time, leading the prosecutor to describe Ahsee's evidence in responding to any perceived threat as "vague and uncertain". He concluded "there is really no adequate basis for you to support any basis for what he said. It just didn’t happen the way he said". Steps to get to murder? Johnstone said the jury had a number of steps it must go through should it return a guilty verdict on the charge of murder. They are: - whether or not Ahsee caused Phillips' death, which the defence accepts he did; - whether or not there was a deliberate stabbing in head, as opposed to accidental, or inflicted in course of defending himself from something; - if so, the final issue is whether Ahsee had murderous intent, which involves what was in his mind and whether he intended to kill Phillips or cause injuries from which he knew death would happen. Six reasons why the Crown says what happened can’t be accidental and involved intent: 1. There was some significant physical/sexual intimacy between the two of them prior to Phillips being stabbed in kitchen which Ahsee tried to cover up. It cites as support for this the fact he was supposed to be going to youth group the night Phillips was killed and even his brothers didn’t know he had boxing training or who Phillips was. The Crown said even after the event, Ahsee was telling his mother he’d been going to boxing training every Friday with his mates, which was not true as he was going on his own. Johnstone said this meant Ahsee was trying to cover up what he was doing when he went to Phillips' house, and there was a basis to consider he was angry with Phillips for what he was required to do to get alcohol and weight sessions. 2. There was a persistent and directed attack which commenced in kitchen and flowed through to sitting room, around the dining room table and across the lounge where Phillips ended up at one stage before falling and dying in the hallway. ESR evidence shows there were multiple blows in the kitchen and continued as, Johnstone suggested, Phillips tried to escape. "Why was he fighting around the dining table when he was just trying to get out?" the Prosecutor questioned, contending it was a sustained and violent attack. "The point is what was in his mind at the time of the head stab in the kitchen, but the violent and sustained attack shows something about what Ahsee had in his mind in the kitchen." 3. The nature of the weapon: A steak knife was used to fatally stab Phillips and Johnstone said “if anyone capable of thought chooses to use a weapon like that against the body of another person, then that person’s intention is obvious isn’t it?" 4. The nature of injuries on Mr Phillips: The fatal blow sliced through bone in the vertebra Phillips' and the pathologist concluded at least moderate force was needed to do so. Johnstone pointed out there were also three other stab wounds, two in Phillips' upper front chest and one the in back of his neck, which "tell you a lot about what Mr Ahsee had to have been thinking throughout the attack". There were also defensive wounds to Phillips’ fingers and series of fine injuries around his face which the pathologist found had to be caused by some sharp object. 5. Awareness: "Be aware he certainly was [alert] to what he was doing to the extent he was able to tell police the next day he stabbed someone in the chest," Johnstone said. "He was aware and processing that information." He points out Ahsee told his uncle he’d done something bad or wrong and told his brother he was going to police to 'confess'. He added Ahsee's mother's comment to her brother that “it was not stab, stabs,” shows he was aware he had stabbed Phillips more than once and had told his mother so. 6. Control: Johnstone said when Phillips was lying in the lounge bleeding heavily Ahsee did not just get out as he said he wanted to do, but got his bloodied clothes, left one pair of Phillips’ shoes he was wearing and took another, took Phillips' laptop and cellphone, and on the way home stashed a pile of his clothes on a property. "These things are indicative of Mr Ahsee remaining in control of what took place that night," Johnstone said, adding that Ahsee initially denied to police he had killed someone before going in to confess the following day. The defence will give its closing address tomorrow morning after which the judge will sum up and the jury will retire to consider its verdict. GayNZ.com Daily News will post full coverage of tomorrow's courtroom proceedings and remain on the case untill the jury returns a verdict.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 18th October 2011 - 5:57pm