Philip Polkinghorne murder trial live updates: Defence finishes evidence
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
“Sir, that is the evidence on behalf of Dr Polkinghorne,” defence lawyer Ron Mansfield said at the end of the questioning of associate professor Sarah Hetrick. With that, the jury finished hearing seven weeks of evidence from witnesses of both sides.
The trial of Philip Polkinghorne, the Remuera eye surgeon accused of murdering his wife Pauline Hanna, was originally scheduled to run for six weeks but the jury sat at the Auckland High Court until today, the end of the seventh week, going through lengthy evidence from a long list of prosecution and defence witnesses.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER THE LIVE BLOG
Evidence ends in Polkinghorne trial - Crown to deliver closing address on Monday
Vera Alves
Justice Lang says that concludes the evidence.
The next step is the closing addresses.
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock will deliver her closing address on Monday. Then the defence will likely close on Tuesday, and the Judge might start summing up on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.
The function of closing addresses is for counsel to put all the evidence together in a coherent form.
Justice Lang implores the jury not to come to firm conclusions one way or the other because the lawyers are yet to close and he's not to sum up the case.
"Over this weekend, please do not talk to anyone else at all about this trial," says Justice Lang.
"Just keep your own counsel and we will see you here on Monday morning at 10am."
Final defence witness finishes evidence
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Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock begins her cross examination of associate professor Sarah Hetrick.
Hetrick agrees people might present differently at work to at home.
McClintock says we've got to look at many aspects of Hanna's presentation as possible, and asks if she agrees.
Hetrick says presentation doesn't help us predict what's going to happen in this context.
"There's no rule book when it comes to suicide?"
"That's right."
The way you put it, is there is no prediction in this field of suicide?
Hetrick agrees.
And is it your understanding that there's also no prediction of homicide risk factors?
"I can't comment that's not my expertise."
Mansfield is back on his feet, and asks if there is a wide body of literature on risk factors, despite it being impossible to predict who will commit suicide.
Hetrick agrees and says they certainly know of someone has risk factors that could be addressed.
That ends Hetrick's evidence.
"Sir, that is the evidence on behalf of Dr Polkinghorne," says Mansfield.
Only a quarter of people leave a note, suicide expert says
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There might also be a thought people plan or research suicide, says Mansfield, what can you say about that?
Associate professor Sarah Hetrick says whether or not you have a written down or articulated plan is not predictive, and often people don't have a plan. They may not have put any planning in and all, and the timing between the decision and the action can be very short, she says.
"It can be as short as five minutes, often 10 or 20 minutes, and it can be longer," she says.
Only a quarter of people leave a note, she says.
"I think people would like there to be a note because it's bewildering when someone commits suicide."
Notes often don't contain any explanation, Hetrick adds.
Hetrick says people can present in a composed way even when they are overwhelmed by grief, depending on who they are interacting with.
Can shock or emotions like that affect how we recall events? asks Mansfield.
Yes, says Hetrick, you are not present in the moment when in shock.
"Shock's a terrible, terrible experience."
Mansfield asks about instructions from 111 call-takers for example to cut someone down when people commit suicide.
Hetrick says it would be a shocking and devastating scene and you would want to immediately get a loved one down.
That's all from Mansfield in evidence-in-chief.
Nearly half of those who commit suicide have no contact with mental health services
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Associate professor Sarah Hetrick says there's no requirement for a diagnosed mental illness for someone to commit suicide. That's another myth, suicide is not always related to a mental illness, she says.
Something like 40 to 50% of people who commit suicide in this country have had no contact with mental health services, Hetrick says.
'We have no ability to predict suicide', suicide prevention expert says
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield says we've heard quite a lot of evidence about Type-A personalities, such as those who dress immaculately and hold a senior role.
Associate professor Sarah Hetrick says it's a colloquial term for someone who's hard working, conscientious and a perfectionist.
There's an idea those types of personalities are not prone to committing suicide, says Mansfield, asking the witness what she says to that.
"That would be a myth," says Hetrick.
Suicide unfortunately touches every group and type of person, she says.
She adds that looking forward to things can be a protective factor, but when distress becomes overwhelming people can no longer garner hope from things they had looked forward to.
What about the fact that an individual may present well to friends, work colleagues and even family, what does that tell us about the potential risk of dying by suicide.
"I don't think it tells us anything," Hetrick says.
There's no combination of risk factors enabling someone to say who might commit suicide.
Even when directly asked, two thirds to three quarters of people who subsequently go on to take their own lives have denied feeling suicidal.
Many people are good at putting a front on professionally and concealing what's going on inside, she says.
"We have no ability to predict suicide, the science is very clear around that," says Hetrick.
"There is no prediction in this field."
What about for health professionals themselves? asks Mansfield.
It's impossible to predict who's going to go on to take their own lives, she says again.
Even suicidal thinking is not something that can be used to predict the risk of suicide, she adds.
Defence calls next witness
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield has called associate professor Sarah Hetrick.
She is an academic at the University of Auckland, primarily a researcher, and she also holds a role with the Ministry of Health.
As with all expert witnesses, Mansfield is producing her CV as evidence and will take her through a summary.
"That might be our final exhibit Madame Registrar, you'll be pleased to know," says Mansfield, suggesting this will be the last witness.
From January 2018 to the current day, she has been the Associate Professor of youth mental health within the medical faculty of the University of Auckland.
Hetrick is also the principal clinical advisor at the Suicide Prevention Office.
She has a BA from the University of Auckland in psychology and an MA from the same institution also in psychology, the jury hears.
Hetrick also holds a post-grad certificate in health science.
Her PhD in psychology is from Monash University.
Hetrick is a registered clinical psychologist with a particular interest in suicide prevention, she confirms.
Accountant clarifies aspect of earlier financial evidence
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Joanne Ung is an accountant for RSM.
Since 2011, RSM have been the accountants for Philip Polkinghorne and Pauline Hanna in relation to their trusts, her brief says.
The purpose of the evidence is to clarify an amendment to the Hanna Polkinghorne Trust and the Ophthalmic Number 2 Trust for the year ending March 2021.
The evidence relates to the sale of the Hoteo Ave property.
She understood the proceeds of the sale were being distributed for investment for the purposes of retirement.
The proceeds from the sale were paid directly to Polkinghorne, but this was not an issue from RSM's perspective.
Her evidence says the technical error identified in earlier accounting evidence was not an issue from RSM's perspective.
The purpose of this evidence is to tidy up an aspect of earlier financial evidence relating to an error identified in parts of the accounts. The error was not Ung's. She says she prepared a second version of the accounts and sent them to Polkinghorne's accountant Robert Willis, who gave evidence for the defence earlier in the trial.
The financial statements of the Hanna Polkinghorne Trust have never been resolved due to there being insufficient trustees to do so, her brief says.
The brief of evidence is being presented to the jury.
Trial resumes with next witness
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The next witness, Joanne Ung, is not appearing in person.
A court registrar will read her written brief of evidence.
Polkinghorne only medical professional to see Hanna before her death - psychiatrist
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What do we know about if partners friends or work colleagues can identify those risks? Mansfield asks.
Psychiatrist David Menkes says he finds that question very challenging to answer.
"Some people keep their emotional lives very controlled and private," he says. Hanna did disclose on occasion quite a lot to those close to her, more so when she was drinking, but to other people she maintained a very effective front, he says.
One of the terrible things about suicide is it can often leave family members and those close to the deceased ruminating and wondering what they could have done.
"It leaves those left behind often with thoughts of regret and self blame that they didn't detect it better or didn't do more to prevent it."
From your review of the material, do we have a medical professional having met with her just prior to her death in April 2021?
Menkes says as far as he's aware, only her husband.
Someone with a speciality in ophthalmology like Polkinghorne would have had some basic psychiatry training at medical school, but people are not able to fairly assess relatives, Menkes says.
Mansfield refers to the email correspondence from Hanna to herself, dating from a year before her death/
"She was obviously plagued by self doubt at that point and had real concerns about her ability to cope," says Menkes.
How frequently those thoughts recurred, we don't know, the witness adds.
That's all from Mansfield and the witness is free to return to Raglan.
Justice Lang says we'll take the morning adjourment.
Court will resume in 15 minutes.
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield has some questions-in-reply, starting with suicide risk factors.
When we're looking at suicide risk do we look at individual factors or a combination of factors?
Menkes says it's a "frustrating challenge" inasmuch as we've got a reasonable understanding of risk factors, but reducing that to the individual level has proved to very challenging.
Multiple factors combine to elevate risk, sometimes in a way that's "supra additive".
Would those risks mean the threat of suicide is constant, or omnipresent?
No, says Menkes, it's subject to variation over time, says Menkes.
The vulnerability of a person to the risk factors depends on context and an individuals mood and circumstances at the time, he says.
Intimate partner violence is a risk factor of future violence, psychiatrist says
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Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock says we've also heard Polkinghorne was sending emails late at night. Do we also take that into account in assessing Polkinghorne's risk factors for violence?
That's not something I looked at, says psychiatrist David Menkes.
He says methamphetamine use would be relevant for violence but he's not sure about sleep.
And prior instances of intimate partner violence, would you agree this is a risk factor used to assess the future risk of any offender? asks McClintock.
Yes, says Menkes.
And a prior instance of strangulation puts someone at a much greater risk of a homicidal strangulation? asks the prosecutor.
Menkes says any intimate partner violence is a risk factor of future violence.
McClintock is alluding to the comments of the Riordans, family friends who said Hanna had described Polkinghorne previously placing his hands on her neck as what was interpreted as a threat.
That ends McClintock's cross-examination.
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You're not among those that suggest there's anything unusual in her behaviour when she went to the tip (the day before her death)? asks Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock. Earlier, the Crown solicitor strongly questioned another defence expert who said the trip to the tip, or a trip to give food to friends on April 4, amounted to unusual behaviour.
Psychiatrist David Menkes says he wouldn't have thought taking food to a friend was unusual for Hanna.
There's nothing in those immediately preceding her death suggesting that she's "off" or deteriorating or has become more unwell than her normal state? asks McClintock.
Menkes says one thing he would highlight was what he would describe as a strong indicator of a disrupted sleep pattern in the days before her death. (The trial has heard she repeatedly sent emails through the night and to the early hours in the days before her death).
The planned opening of the clinic the next week and the upcoming holiday to the South Island the weekend after would have been potential protective factors, Menkes agrees.
Would you agree, says McClintock, that while she took duromine for a long time, that looking goo can give some people confidence in and of itself?
Menkes says in her case, she really went the extra mile.
Would you agree menopausal women in particular can become very concerned about weight?
Yes, I think I would agree with that, says Menkes.
So we'd have to be careful with words like preoccupied making it sound like it's a mental health issue? She could just really want to look good? asks McClintock.
Menkes says it fits with what we know about her personality.
On to sleep.
Menkes says he focussed on the timing of the work-related emails, not their content, figuring out in the five days before her death what her sleep pattern would have been.
That would have been an added stress on an already stressed sleep pattern, the witness says.
Menkes says again the five days before her death was marked by sleep disruption.
McClintock asks if he's seen evidence from her bosses that say she didn't come in particularly early.
Menkes says it had been acknowledged it was par for the course in her team to work "crazy hours" all day and into the night, given they saw Covid as a real public health emergency.
Trial delves more into Hanna's work stress
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Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock asks if we also need to look at what sort of counter-balances or protective factors she had available for her at that time.
Psychiatrist David Menkes agrees.
"There's good stress and bad stress, isn't there?"
"Quite."
And there's evidence about her family being an important protective factor, indeed she gave that as a factor in her not trying to put her suicidal thinking into action in late 2019?
Menkes agrees.
And she also enjoyed exercise and was still functioning socially and occupationally at the time of her death?
"Yes, she seemed to be occupationally quite functional right until that point."
Menkes says a person as socially connected as her may have experienced a sense of isolation and separation from people given Covid and her busy work life.
But people can ebb and flow, says McClintock, and we've heard evidence her job was in many ways her happy place?
"It certainly occupied her," says Menkes.
Menkes adds she was clearly motivated to keeping going and wanted to, and indeed did, perform to a high standard.
Menkes says in her disclosing emails to family she would refer to putting on a front and continuing on as if everything was fine, when in fact it didn't feel fine.
"Is this the 'my life is insane email'?" asks McClintock.
"That was one of them, but I think there's more than one," says Menkes.
Menkes agrees she was looking forward to opening a new vaccine clinic the week of her death.
We know that she did have a work pressure issue, relating to the fear of failure, says McClintock. The email expressing that was in April 2020, a year before her death, she says. Were you aware of any evidence of actual work failure issue playing on her mind come April 2021?
Not specifically right around then, the witness says. But the email she wrote to herself suggested she was subject to these recurrent doubts, says Menkes.
To recap, here's that email again, dating again from April 2020 and written to herself. It was not included in the prosecution evidence but was revealed by the defence.
“I am never good enough despite my efforts - today is the 25th day in a row - but I am not adding any value,” she wrote. “I want desperately to tell someone and cry and ask for help but everyone seems to think I’m amazing and does not want to know that I have foibles and failings.
“I have tried to bring up with Philip but he tells me he hasn’t got time to go over the negative tonight = he has enough. I must stand on my own two feet but I don’t know today if I have two feet or what they look like.
“So I have had 3 glasses of wine and a beautiful dinner thanks to PJP - but I don’t know what to do with myself.. So I will go to bed and not sleep. V. unusual for me - and it builds up - who knows what might follow. Have to tell someone even if no- one but God ever sees this.”
Enough zopiclone in the house for Hanna to kill herself - psychiatrist and pharmacology expert says
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On to Phentermine, the amphetamine the diet drug called also called duromine Hanna took for a long time, a prescribing practice questioned by several witness including witnesses due to the dangers of the drugs, and the possible side effects including depression. But psychiatrist David Menkes agrees with Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock the risk of an adverse reaction would be most acute when you first start taking it.
McClintock asks, and Menkes confirms, that the evidence shows the Zopiclone was prescribed to Polkinghorne, not Hanna.
Is self-prescription from a medical practitioner of a drug like this good practice?
"It's generally discouraged not to prescribe for yourself or a family member," says Menkes. He said earlier that Zopiclone is a dangerous drug because of its interactions with alcohol and other drugs, and its potential side effects, again including depression.
The ESR scientist Helen Poulsen said Zopiclone was found in a hair sample of Hanna's hair covering a six month period. Menkes says that suggests Zopiclone was used consistently.
Alcohol and Zopiclone are "cross-tolerant" so once you become tolerant to alcohol you will find that tolerance extends to zopiclone and other sleeping pills, like benzos, because they work in a similar way to alcohol.
McClintock asks if there's also a risk of increased sedation by combining Zopiclone and alcohol.
Yes, says Menkes, but it could be offset by her probable tolerance given the longstanding use.
Did you see any evidence of impulsive behaviour from Hanna in the lead-up to her death? Or disinhibition? asks McClintock.
Menkes says not much at the behavioural level, the more striking thing in her case was how her speech would sometimes get loosened up when she was drinking. It was commented by at least one witness that she would talk about herself more freely when she had been drinking.
"Wouldn't the same be true of most of us?"
"Absolutely."
Disinhibition and impulsivity can also come through the use of Class A drugs like methamphetamine, can't they? asks McClintock.
Yes, says Menkes, as can phentermine.
Did you see any evidence she took meth?
No, says Menkes.
Was there enough Zopiclone found in the house to be a lethal dose if all taken at once?
Yes, says Menkes, he would imagine it would be more than enough.
Menkes says the use of alcohol and Zopiclone are common among people who commit suicide.
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Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock continues questioning psychiatrist David Menkes.
In the Longlands recording from 2019, Hanna also said she had considered chucking herself off a bridge. Menkes says that imagery suggests a method with high lethality, but he agrees with another witness that it didn't seem to be delivered with a lot of feeling.
McClintock asks if we should be careful with those sort of comments, given they are said out of frustration, almost jokingly. So we'd be looking for a pattern rather than singular comments?
Menkes agrees, and says alcohol could have led to disinhibited speech, agreeing it could have been a hyperbolic statement.
Menkes adds it was part of a narrative where she was expressing stressors and personal problems.
Onto her comments about driving into a truck. Would you agree with the Ministry of Health that suicidal thoughts are actually quite common among the general population?
"Absolutely," says Menkes.
And it's relevant, says McClintock, that we can identify triggers for her thoughts in 2019, namely her mother being in hospital and the fact she thought her husband was leaving her.
Menkes says when somebody's feeling acutely unhappy or frustrated or distressed, often there's a natural human tendency to try to identity causes of that. So she might have landed on those two items, clearly definable, but it doesn't mean there wasn't other things going on in her life at that time, Menkes says.
McClintock notes she "reached out" to her GP and was referred to the crisis team, adding the GP told the court she found Hanna very open with her problems. It's relevant isn't it, that when she had that sort of thinking she asked for help?
Yes, says Menkes, but the concerning thing is there wasn't any follow up visit or a plan made to see a psychologist.
And we do know there's no further reports of distress to her GP after December 2019? asks McClintock.
No, says Menkes, she just continued to receive her medications.
You told us yesterday there's no evidence of a severe depressive disorder in Hanna?
Menkes says that's right, she had depressed symptoms but they were off-and-on, Menkes says.
We've heard she called Prozac her happy pills, says McClintock, that's the purpose of the Prozac, isn't it?
Generally to relieve negative mood symptoms rather than promote positive one, says Menkes.
How effective the anti-depressant was for her is questionable, he adds, because she continued to suffer variable moods while taking it for many years.
McClintock asks about the alcohol-use disorder.
Menkes says it appears to have gone back to 2001.
But we don't no for sure how much she drunk that night, unless we rely on Polkinghorne's account? All we have is the post-mortem toxicology showing she had less than the legal limit in her blood?
Menkes says that's right.
No medical evidence of Hanna's 1992 alleged suicide attempt - psychiatrist
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The defence lawyer has now finished his evidence-in-chief.
Auckland Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock asks psychiatrist David Menkes about his earlier comment that Hanna had a number of risk factors, qualified by his later comment that completed suicide is "notoriously difficult to predict".
You've been clear you can't say this combination of risk factors was in fact operative for Hanna on the night of April 4, 2021?
Correct, says Menkes.
So what you're helping us with is to say in your view there is a combination of factors that could have increased her particular individual risk?
Yes, says the witness.
On to bereavement, and the death of Hanna's mother in February 2021.
He agrees he did not put much weight in it because it happened two months prior and the fact it was an expected event following a long and difficult illness.
McClintock again refers to evidence from those who knew her that Hanna was sad but philosophical about her mother's death.
Menkes says it's worth pointing out she was very connected to her mother, and her call to express thoughts of suicide to a GP on December 23, 2019 was connected to thoughts of her mother's worsening illness. To recap, Hanna called her GP and said she had thought about driving head on into a truck because her husband had left her and her mother was in hospital. It later emerged in evidence Polkinghorne said he was going on a course but had in fact flown to Sydney, instead of attending family Christmas at their Rings Beach bach in the Coromandel.
But you're not able to say how much it added to her risk profile? asks McClintock
Correct, says Menkes.
Onto the purported suicide attempt recounted to her sister Tracey Hanna in 1992.
Menkes says the evidence around that incident is "really incomplete" and we're left to acknowledge the uncertainty around that.
McClintock says the only evidence is the account from Tracey. So there's no medical evidence confirming that there was such an attempt?
"No," says Menkes.
No typical presentation of suicide risk, psychiatrist says
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Is there any kind of typical presentation of suicide risk? asks Mansfield.
Psychiatrist David Menkes says the simple answer is no.
The presentation of suicidal behaviour and risk varies enormously between individuals, he says.
There will be some people where the risk is apparent, with repeated threats or obvious presentation. Other people will show no apparent risk and the suicide will come very much out of the blue.
There is no pattern of risk that has proven to be clinically useful, says Menkes.
Half of suicides are impulsive - defence psychiatrist
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If someone's died by suicide, people might assume that's a planned event they'd researched and set up, says Mansfield. Is that the known presentation?
Academic psychiatrist David Menkes says some people do plan it, sometimes in meticulous detail.
"I think that's probably the minority."
A lot of people behave in a way that's called unplanned or impulsive suicide.
Two recent studies of people who nearly died from suicide including subjects being asked about how long between the decision to end one's life and the action.
In half of cases, it was 10 or 20 minutes, says Menkes.
"About half within 20 minutes is an extraordinary sort of finding. But it's been replicated now in two studies."
Mix of alcohol and sleeping pills could have led to depression - psychiatrist says
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Defence lawyer Ron Mansfield KC is back on his feet to continue leading the evidence of academic psychiatrist David Menkes.
Yesterday we were talking about different medications and their use with alcohol, Mansfield says. Can the combination of zopiclone and alcohol assist with getting to sleep?
"Definitely," says Menkes.
What about the length of sleep?
Menkes says it's important to think about their use in the ongoing or chronic sense, when chronic develops, as would be expected for both the sleeping pill and alcohol most days, as they appear to have been in this case.
The psychiatrist says tolerance to alcohol could cause waking after getting to sleep, because alcohol is cleared from the body fairly quickly, at about one standard drink per hour.
With chronic use, there's also the possibility of withdrawal symptoms in the night, including nervousness and agitation upon waking, the witness says.
If someone was to wake up in the early hours of the morning, how might the zopiclone and alcohol combo feel when they wake? asks Mansfield.
The early morning waking would be associated with withdrawal symptoms, including irritability, anxiety and depression, Menkes says.
It would generally not feel very pleasant, says Menkes.
There's the hangover effect of alcohol, feeling washed out and a bit grumpy, then the general depression of mood which might follow and persist, despite the alcohol being eliminated from the body.
That's why chronic heavy drinkers often do get depressed, Menkes says.
Vera Alves
The public gallery is about half-full today after an at-times plodding day of technical evidence yesterday, with two IT experts at loggerheads.
Trial about to resume
Vera Alves
Day 31 of the Philip Polkinghorne trial is set to resume with what should be the last of the defence witnesses.
At 10am, Yale-trained psychiatrist David Menkes will return to the witness box to continue giving evidence, led by defence lawyer Ron Mansfield, who ended his questioning last night after the witness said Pauline Hanna had a "whole array" of suicide risk factors before her death.
Trial to go eight weeks as seventh draws to close with last defence witnesses
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Welcome to the Herald’s live coverage of the murder trial of Phlip Polkinghorne, the Remuera eye surgeon accused of killing his wife and staging the scene to look like a suicide.
Today at 10am it is expected we will continue to hear from one of the final defence witnesses, Dr David Menkes, a Yale-trained psychiatrist who now lives in Raglan. He says Hanna had several of the risk factors for suicide on the night before her death.
STORY CONTINUES
Justice Lang has asked the jury not to come to firm conclusions one way or the other because the lawyers are yet to close and he’s got to sum up the case.
”Over this weekend, please do not talk to anyone else at all about this trial,” he said.
What happens next in the Polkinghorne trial
The next step is the closing addresses. Auckland Crown Solicitor Alysha McClintock will deliver her closing address on Monday.
The defence will likely close on Tuesday, and the judge might start summing up on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning.
The function of closing addresses is for counsel to put all the evidence together in a coherent form.
The trial will resume with the Crown closing address at 10am on Monday.
Week seven draws to close with last defence witnesses
The trial closed today with evidence from associate professor Sarah Hetrick.
She is an academic at the University of Auckland, primarily a researcher, and she also holds a role with the Ministry of Health.
Hetrick says there’s no requirement for a diagnosed mental illness for someone to commit suicide. That’s another myth, suicide is not always related to a mental illness, she says.
Something like 40% to 50% of people who commit suicide in this country have had no contact with mental health services, Hetrick told the court.
She also said only about a quarter of people leave a suicide note.
Earlier, the jury heard from Dr David Menkes, a Yale-trained psychiatrist who now lives in Raglan. He says Hanna had several of the risk factors for suicide on the night before her death.
They included several days of poor and disturbed sleep. The trial has heard evidence she repeatedly sent emails into the early hours, as late as 4am, in the days before she died.
She was also taking a combination of drugs that had potentially dangerous interactions, including diet drug phentermine (an amphetamine) and the sleeping pill zopiclone, which together with wine would have created a distinct disinhibiting effect, the trial heard. Her antidepressant fluoxetine could have been another “wild card” adding to her intoxication, he said.
“It’s a whole array of different risk factors which were in combination,” Menkes said.
There was also the loss of her mother two months before Hanna’s death, which while not unexpected would still have been a major event, he said. Her sister Tracey Hanna said Pauline had reported having attempted to take her own life in the 1990s, shortly after her father’s death, but Menkes acknowledged there was no independent verification of this from medical records or other witnesses.
The trial, originally set down for six weeks, is now certain to run into next week, its eighth, when the Crown and defence will close before Justice Lang sums up and the jury retires to consider its verdict on the single charge Polkinghorne faces – murder. He pleaded guilty to charges relating to meth and a meth pipe at the start of proceedings in late July.
Before Menkes, the trial spent hour upon hour wading through the dense technical evidence underpinning a dispute between the police digital forensic analyst Jun Lee and the defence’s IT expert Atakan “Artie” Shahho.
It all boiled down to the two contacts Polkinghorne’s defence team say Pauline Hanna looked up and selected about 4am on the morning of her death, April 5, 2021.
Shahho said this means she would have at least selected the contacts from within the messaging app, and possibly also drafted and then deleted messages to them. They were her husband and the daughter of a family friend.
Lee said the defence has misinterpreted an automatic security lookup procedure to suggest the phone’s messaging app was used. In fact, it was an automatic background security process. We know that, says Lee, because there are no corresponding device logs showing the phone being moved and switched on.
To counter that, Shahho and the defence has said the device log data also does not show any logs on the afternoon of April 5, when a police photo of the scene clearly shows Hanna’s phone screen having been switched on. As a result, Shahho is questioning the accuracy of the data logs police relied on. The prosecution said Shahho has not seen the raw data, just the data from Cellebrite, the tool used to analyse the phone.
Polkinghorne, now 71, is accused of having fatally strangled Hanna, 63, inside their Remuera home before staging the scene on the morning of April 5, 2021, to look like a suicide by hanging. Prosecutors have suggested the defendant was high on methamphetamine when he lashed out at his wife of 24 years, possibly during an argument over his exorbitant spending on sex workers or his “double life” with Sydney escort Madison Ashton
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
The Herald will be covering the case in a daily podcast, Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial. You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, through The Front Page feed, or wherever you get your podcasts.