A DVD viewed in the High Court today showed police questioning the Hungarian tourist charged with killing gay Onehunga man Ronald Brown just hours after Brown was found bloodied and unconscious in his trashed house in December 2007. Accused man Ferdinand Ambach, who was arrested in the house after neighbours called the police to a disturbance, appeared under police guard in the court today, with some members of Brown's family also present. The court saw several minutes of DVD footage of Ambach being read his rights on the morning of Saturday 6 December, as his almost four-hour police questioning began. He appeared calm and alert, responding quickly to Detective Constable Simon Matheson's questions, which were put to him through a Hungarian interpreter. Justice Stevens had yesterday requested that footage of the DVD be viewed as Ambach's treatment by police may become a key issue in his defence. More footage from the police questioning will be viewed by the judge and defence lawyers today, and court will reconvene tomorrow, when the Pre-Trial Application proceedings are expected to be wrapped up and a date for Ambach's jury trial to be set. Ambach is expected to plead not guilty to charges of murder, intentional damage, and assault when his case comes to trial. He has been in police custody since the overnight attack in Brown's home.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 17th February 2009 - 2:23pm