A RULING on a voir dire hearing conducted for three of the four men accused of breaking into the Tech Hub shop in Honiara early this year, and stealing over 80 mobile phones and $560 in cash will be delivered on October 23.
The decision follows the closing submissions presented before Deputy Chief Magistrate Ricky Iomea last week.
The voir dire – trial within a trial- was conducted for three of the four accused to determine whether their Record of Interview (ROI) or police interviews were made fairly and voluntarily.
The accused Stephen Yim, Jared Meke, Andrew Kiriau and former Tech Hub employee Jimmy Kiriau each face a charge of shop breaking.
A fifth man, Frank Firimolea, alleged to be the main suspect was recently arrested after evading police arrest since the alleged incident was committed in January this year.
His case will be consolidated with this one at a later date.
All accused, except for Kiriau, have challenged admission they made in their ROI with the police in this voir dire hearing on grounds of unfairness and involuntariness.
The prosecution called about eight witnesses during the hearing, while two of the three defendants gave evidence.
During the voir dire, all accused, except Andrew, challenged the admissibility of their ROI with the police, claiming their statements were obtained unfairly and involuntarily.
The prosecution, however, maintained that the interviews were conducted properly, and without coercion.
About eight prosecution witnesses were called, while two of the three accused also gave evidence.
Magistrate Iomea will deliver his ruling on October 23.
If he rules in favor of the prosecution, the contested statements will be admitted as evidence in the main trial, else they will be thrown out.
According to the prosecution, the break-in occurred between 4am and 5am on 31 January, during which thieves stole more than 80 mobile phones, including iPhones and a Samsung Galaxy S21, and $560 in cash.
CTV footage reportedly captured a suspect inside the shop during the incident.
Police alleged that one of the accused, Jimmy, who was then employed by Tech Hub, provided his co-accused with inside information about the shop’s layout, security arrangements and CCTV positions to help plan the break-in.
The men were later tracked down and arrested in early February, after police recovered several of the stolen phones in their positions.
Defence counsels Rochelle Palmer, Donation Houa and Ron Dickey Pulekera from the Public Solicitor’s Office represent the defendants while Public Prosecutor Francisca Luza appears for the Crown.
BY ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
