The trial of former TVNZ host Liz Gunn and her cameraman, Jonathan Clark, has resumed today with more tense exchanges between the anti-vaccination campaigner, a prosecutor and a judge.
Gunn has been warned by the trial Judge to stick to the facts and not to ask questions of lawyers from the witness box, while another defence witness earned a rebuke from the Judge for referring to his notes when he was asked not to.
Police prosecutor Jerome Beveridge asked Gunn why she described the woman she is accused of assaulting, an Auckland Airport security worker, and another airport staffer, as “real Nazis” in footage captured last year.
She and her cameraman were attempting to film in Auckland airport but the worker told them they did not have permission, an assertion that was disputed by Gunn. They were eventually arrested and charged after the dispute over filming escalated and airport staff called police.
Gunn, 64, began telling a story about how her father fought in World War II but was interrupted by Judge Janey Forrest.
The judge told Gunn that what her father had said was hearsay, asking her to answer the question directly.
Gunn said she was just trying to add context to her use of the term Nazi.
“It is a term of art for someone who is abusing the power that they have because of the power of their uniform,” Gunn said.
As the cross-examination continued on Friday morning, the exchanges became more tense between the controversial alternative media personality and the prosecutor, requiring Judge Forrest to repeatedly intervene.
“Ms Gunn, you’re here to answer the questions that are put to you,” the judge said.
Gunn broke down in tears when footage of her arrest was played.
She has said the arrest was so forceful it caused her ligament damage and lasting pain and trauma.
Gunn is charged with - and denies - resisting arrest. The arresting officer Senior Constable Erich Postlewaight told the court on Tuesday she repeatedly tried to pull away from him and push him off, which Gunn described as a “ludicrous assertion”.
“He was three times my strength, he was twice my size.”
As the cross-examination wore on, Gunn asked Beveridge why he needed to keep playing the footage and took issue with a few of his questions, leading to another rebuke from the judge.
“Ms Gunn, you’re here to answer the questions that are put to you,” Judge Forrest said.
“Your job is not to ask questions.”
Hague next called Clark as a witness. He said he was grabbed hard by Constable Robett Luong, thrown to the ground and left with marks and bruising on his body.
“Resisting what? I was on the ground when he said ‘you are under arrest’ I was just lying there.”
Hague then called Dr René de Monchy, a psychiatrist who was at the airport alongside Gunn when she was arrested.
The doctor has previously been interviewed by Gunn, prior to the alleged assault, and according to an anti-vaccine group he lost his job at a New Zealand hospital for refusing to have the Covid-19 vaccine.
He appeared by audio-visual link from Switzerland and told the court Postlewaight grabbed Gunn out of the blue, “without any provocation”.
“There was no uproar it was actually quite a quiet situation,” he said.
“He grabbed her right wrist and right forearm and twisted that in upwards fully behind the back and up to the shoulder blades.”
Judge Forrest had asked him not to refer to his notes when giving evidence, and to ask for permission if he wanted to refer to notes. But it emerged during cross-examination he had been referring to notes.
“At the start of your evidence we discussed you would put those to one side and you would not look at your notes,” the Judge said.
Judge Forrest has not given an indication as to whether she will deliver her verdict at the end of the hearing, which was originally only set to last a day on Tuesday, or if the decision will be reserved.
The trial has gone to a reserve day because the defence still has several witnesses to call. They include a former police constable who will testify about use-of-force procedures.
Admission of his evidence was opposed by Beveridge, who argued the man had not been in the police since 1996, but Gunn’s lawyer Matthew Hague won the right to call the former cop just before the trial started.
Ahead of the second day of the judge-alone trial, a few dozen supporters of Gunn and Clark again turned up to the Manukau District Court.
They were again warned not to film, take photos or disrupt proceedings by the judge, following warnings on Tuesday that they could be asked to leave court after they laughed during the evidence of a police witness.
During a colourful day of evidence on Tuesday, Judge Forrest dismissed one of the charges faced by the pair, that of wilful trespass, after an application by Hague.
The judge declined Hague’s application to dismiss the common assault charge faced by Gunn alone and the resisting arrest charges against the pair. Clark is not charged with assault.
The charges stem from an incident at the Auckland Airport international terminal on February 25, 2023, where Gunn and Clark intended to film the arrival of a family who had been kept in lockdown in Tokelau after refusing the Covid-19 vaccine.
They were approached by an airport security worker who asked if they had permission to film inside the terminal, as required for commercial operators.
Liz Gunn arrives at the Manukau District Court on Tuesday ahead of what turned out to be the first day of her trial on Tuesday. Photo / Michael Craig
Gunn replied they did not need permission because they were not filming to make a profit but security co-ordinator Anna Kolodeznaya said they did need permission because they were using professional equipment.
What happened next is disputed and led to the assault charge against Gunn.
Kolodeznaya, during her evidence on Tuesday, said Gunn grabbed her arm with a level of force she described as “five-out-of-10″ and which was exacerbated by an injury she was carrying.
Gunn said she merely tapped her on the arm to get her attention.
Kolodeznaya said Gunn began questioning her about airport policies and the law.
“I felt very intimidated at this time because of their body language ... towards me,” Kolodeznaya said.
In footage of the incident played to the court, Gunn can be heard questioning Kolodeznaya about her nationality.
“Where are you from originally?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kolodeznaya replied.
“Well, it matters to me. Because the way it started in Germany was with little freedoms being taken,” Gunn said.
Gunn said she found Kolodeznaya aggressive and confrontational and claimed she did not tap her with any force. She described herself as a “very gesticulating person”.
Gunn and her supporters were in high spirits on Tuesday when they appeared at the Manukau District Court and they appeared buoyant again when they returned on Friday. Photo / Michael Craig
“To hear her say it was a five-out-of-10 pain level, it absolutely flabbergasted me today,” Gunn said.
“It felt like a bullying exchange from go to whoa.”
She described the arrest of her cameraman as like “something out of a rugby field”.
When she was arrested, she said the officer grabbed her and forced her hand down with a “crushing move”, injuring her shoulder.
“The pain was excruciating,” she said.
Gunn said she was left with torn ligaments after the arrest.
“I can’t swim, I can’t play tennis, I paid a huge price for a year of physical debilitation because of what he did.”
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
