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The fact that Shane Roberts loved Karlos Stephens “does not change what he did to her” and he is still guilty of assaulting and murdering the 10-month-old.
That’s according to prosecutor Amanda Gordon, who summarized the Crown’s case against Roberts in Rotorua Superior Court on Wednesday.
Roberts faces a charge: that between November 29 and 30, 2014, he murdered one of the twins, Karlos Stephens.
On the opening day of the trial, Crown Prosecutor Anna McConachy told the jury of six men and six women that Karlos and his twin brother had been entrusted to the care of Roberts and his family, as their mother, Pamela Stephens, was struggling to cope with the situation. .
Under Roberts’ care, the Crown alleged, Karlos suffered “major trauma to the head” and later died.
Roberts’ defense attorney, Simon Lance, also addressed jurors and told them they faced two major issues.
“Murder or manslaughter and secondly, the Crown has proven that it was this man here, Shane Roberts, who by some unlawful act caused Karlos Stephens’ injuries,” he said.
“Mr. Roberts’s position in a nutshell is that he did not hurt Karlos, he did not cause the injuries that eventually led to his death.”
Gordon began his summary by telling the jury that the case was a tragedy in several respects.
“That Pamela Stephens was so desperate that she gave her children to a virtual stranger, the defendant Mr. Roberts, also a tragedy in which no one stepped in to provide her with the support she clearly needed, but more importantly a tragedy because Karlos he was killed and he was ten months old. “
Gordon also said that failure to seek medical help for any trauma inflicted on Karlos contributed to his death.
“The Crown tells you that the perpetrator of that assault is Shane Roberts, he is the person who killed Karlos, the person who assaulted him.”
Things
Shane Roberts is on trial in Rotorua Superior Court.
Gordon also asked the jury to be cautious in their opinions about Stephens.
“She had children with a man she barely knew, a single mother of six, gave her children to a virtual stranger, fond of methamphetamine,” he said.
“Clearly not mother of the year material.”
However, he said he was vulnerable, needed help and that the facts of the case, including evidence from three medical experts, were clear.
He also said that the evidence that Roberts brought unresponsive Karlos to the house Stephens was staying in on the day of his death, rather than simply calling an ambulance, was revealing, as was Stephens’ demand for to go immediately to the hospital.
“Is that the action of someone who caused the injuries to Karlos?”
Gordon also said Roberts would have a reason for not wanting police to visit his address, where they allege he assaulted Karlos.
“He didn’t want the police to search Homedale Street for its condition, the vomit, the traces of vomit around the house.”
It also said Roberts’ initial claim that he spent the night with Stephens and the twins on Alison St was undone by evidence from a neighbor that he was seen on Homedale St early Sunday.
“Then the next lie, I was playing slots until 3 in the morning, he didn’t say that to his family at the time,” he said.
“Another attempt by the defendant to cover up what he did.
“The Crown is not suggesting that he did not love Karlos, that does not change what he did to him. . . he can be satisfied that he is the one who attacked Karlos, is guilty of his death and, more importantly, guilty of murder. “
Lance began his summary by pointing to the credibility of Stephens, who said he was the only person who maintained that Karlos was with Roberts when he suffered his injuries.
“A woman who was willing to give her twins to a man she hardly knew.”
She asked the jury if they could be sure that she was “a witness that I can trust enough to support a murder or manslaughter charge, I suggest the answer is a resounding no.”
He also said that the women the jury heard from during the trial could have been a very different woman in 2014, “using methamphetamine, having mental health problems, trying to juggle a stressful life.”
“A rather haunting background image leading up to that fatal weekend on Alison St.”
He also said the evidence from Murray Gray, who claimed that when Stephens stayed with him found her strangling one of her other children, and her claim that she was “lost, not quite,” was important.
“What Ms. Stephens is capable of and may not remember, if she accepts that she had her hands around her son’s neck.”
Lance said there was no forensic evidence linking Roberts to any crime, and issued a warning about the medical evidence.
“You have the freedom to accept or reject what they say, it is not the gospel, they go out of their way to say they weren’t there.”
He also warned against what he said was an understandable desire to find someone responsible for the death of a child.
“Put those emotions aside and focus only on the evidence. . . if he does it to a very high level beyond a reasonable doubt, it is your duty to acquit him, “he said.
“There is only one sure verdict and he is not guilty, Mr. Roberts is not a murderer.”
Trial Judge Sarah Katz will provide her summary Thursday before the jury leaves to consider its verdict.
