A man on trial for fraud because of finance company collapses wants the Crown to pay him $1.3 million in costs because his first trial was aborted.
The original trial was aborted last year because of problems with the way the prosecution handed over evidence. Photo:
Paul Bublitz was one of four men charged by the Financial Markets Authority over the 2010 collapse of Mutual Finance Ltd, which owed investors $17 million, and Viaduct Capital Ltd, which owed $7.8 million.
The original trial, the longest criminal trial in New Zealand's history, was aborted last year because of problems with the way the prosecution handed over evidence.
Mr Bublitz's lawyer, Rachael Reed QC, said the unnecessarily drawn-out case was the fault of the prosecution and it cost her client $1.5m.
She said her client would not be able to afford to mount the defence of his choosing for the new trial without being reimbursed.
"Why should Mr Bublitz have to pay twice for the Crown's breaches, for their failures, extensive failures in a trial where the disclosure was crucial," she said.
His liberty was at stake, she said, and he should be able to to defend his case as rigourously as he did in the first trial.
The full amount of costs were not being sought because some of the preparation for his new trial would not need to be repeated, Ms Reed said.
Mr Bublitz used $245,000 worth of legal aid before financing his own defence and that would have to be paid back first in any costs awarded, she said.
The original trial had been expected to take 12 weeks but collapsed in May after blowing out to nine months.
The Crown had failed to disclose important evidence early enough.
Mr Bublitz originally faced 49 charges but they were whittled down to 13 throughout the trial.