Christchurch Mosque Shooter Sacks Lawyer
Lawyer Tony Ellis was preparing to represent convicted murderer Brenton Tarrant at the coroner’s hearing into the deaths but on Wednesday Ellis confirmed Tarrant had dismissed him.
Professional ethical rules prevented him saying anything about the circumstances, Ellis said.
Last week Ellis had, with his client’s approval, said the gunman now claimed he pleaded guilty to the charges – 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder, and one of engaging in a terrorist act – under duress because of mistreatment and pressure he faced in prison.
Ellis said then that he expected the gunman to file an appeal against his convictions relating to the shootings at Masjid An-Nur and Linwood mosque in Christchurch, which were New Zealand’s worst mass shootings.
The gunman was sentenced to life in jail, without the possibility of parole, and is being held in a unit for prisoners of exceptional risk at Auckland Prison.
As well as raising the possibility of an appeal, Ellis objected to the process of the coroner’s inquiry into the mosque deaths, with the prospect that court action might delay the inquests.
Prison authorities had stopped the gunman receiving letters from the coroner about the process and a copy of the Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the attack on the mosques.
The next step in the coroner’s inquiry is a hearing in mid-December about its scope.
Source: stuff.co.nz
