Mistrial after witness 'too ill' to give evidence

A woman accused of murdering a three-year-old boy in her care was remanded on bail today after her trial was aborted because a key medical witness was too ill to give evidence.

Patricia Angela Pickering, 38, pleaded not guilty in the High Court at Auckland for the murder of Dylan Hohepa Tonga Rimini.

She also denied two charges of causing him grievous bodily harm, and one of assault.

Dylan died in Auckland's Starship Hospital in April 2008 from head injuries.

After four weeks of evidence, the trial was aborted today at the request of the Crown because of the unavailability of the medical witness due to illness.

It was set to run another two weeks.

There will be a call-over at the High Court on March 24 to set a date for a new trial, which is expected to be May 3.

Crown prosecutor Phil Hamlin told NZPA the jury was sent home at 11.45am today.

"One of our key medical witnesses became ill late last week and unfortunately cannot give evidence. It's a real pity because we'd got three quarters of the way through the trial.

"We spent all weekend trying to find a substitute but we couldn't find one, that was the problem.

"She was an important witness and all the medical witnesses fit in together. Some examine the brain, the body, some do the CT scans, and this particular witness was in one of those groups."

Mr Hamlin did not want to identify the witness, but he said she was an important part of the Crown case in identifying some of the key features that related to when the alleged events occurred.

She did not treat Dylan at the time, but was due to be a witness based on her knowledge and experience.

Mr Hamlin said the Crown only learnt the witness was ill last Friday, and he said there was no other way around it.

- NZPA