A jury deciding whether a witness lied when he gave evidence in one of the country's most high-profile murder trials has been told to remember that human memory is fallible.
Witness C gave evidence at David Tamihere's trial in 1990, saying Tamihere had told him he sexually molested Swedish tourists Heidi Paakkonen and Sven Hoglin, killed them and dumped their bodies at sea.
The witness is facing a private prosecution in the High Court in Auckland, accused of eight charges of perjury and one charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Summing up the case this afternoon, Justice Whata told jurors not to put huge significance on whether Witness C remembered precisely all the details in the case, as the trial happened nearly 30 years ago.
He told them the key issue to consider was whether he lied about what Tamihere told him.
The jury has now retired to consider their verdict.
