The jury retired at 10pm last night in the David McNee murder trial, and will resume again this morning at 9, having been unable to come to a decision after eight hours of deliberation. Justice Marion Frator told the jurors to decide if 24-year-old Phillip Edwards is guilty of murder, or guilty of manslaughter under provocation. The Crown believes Edwards is guilty of murder, but the defence contends he was humiliated by Mr McNee's sexual advances towards him,and lost control. This defence is known as the "homosexual panic" defence, and has been used countless times in the past to acquit men accused of gay murders. Frator said she was satisfied there were grounds for provocation to cause that loss of self control but that did not mean it had happened. The jury had to decide if Edwards lost self control "or if there was a distinct eliminate of deliberation". The defence told the court last week McNee had picked up Edwards for sex on K' Rd and Edwards had agreed to perform an erotic "look but don't touch" show. Edwards was not gay (although it emerged earlier in the trial he'd had an eight-month relationship with a transsexual in 2001) but lost control when McNee broke their deal and sexually violated him digitally. This loss of control included up to fifty blows to McNee's face which sprayed his bedroom with blood. He was left to die choking on his own blood and vomit for up to an hour.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 10th August 2004 - 12:00pm