NOT GUILTY END FOR HALL

There were tears in the jury box as well as the public gallery after
an 18-year-old man was yesterday found not guilty of possessing
$125,000 worth of pure methamphetamine for supply.

Damian Lance Hall walked out of the dock and into the arms of openly
emotional family members after the jury took just three-and-half hours
to reach its verdict.

A female juror had tears in her eyes as Hall was reunited with his
loved ones.

The Crown's key witness, Hall's ex-girlfriend Halie Swift, entered the
courtroom late and asked a security guard standing in the doorway
"what happened?"

She quickly left after being told of the outcome.

The court had heard Hall "dumped" Swift on December 14, 2005, and
started a relationship with her best friend.

Three days later, Swift went to collect some belongings from the
Haydon Street, Palmerston North, house the couple had lived in together.

There she came upon a black briefcase containing 125g of pure
methamphetamine one of the largest hauls of the drug ever found in
Palmerston North.

Miss Swift alerted family friend Dereck Turvey an off-duty policeman
who was helping her move furniture from the house.

The jury was told Hall's father, Brettan Hall, had been sent to prison
for dealing methamphetamine in October that year.

Damian Hall moved into his father's Rongotea house the following day,
where Miss Swift said she saw him prepare, package and deal
methamphetamine.

Both the Crown and the defence agreed the drugs initially belonged to
Brettan Hall, but the case hinged on when Damian Hall found them and,
more importantly, what he intended to do with them.

Under the law, anyone found with more than 5g of methamphetamine is
presumed to have it for the purpose of supply.

The burden of proof then falls on an accused person to rebut that
presumption by demonstrating that the drugs were not for supplying
other people.

Hall said he found the briefcase containing the drugs by chance at his
father's house "a couple of days" before Miss Swift came upon it at
the Haydon Street house.

He told the court he took the drugs to Haydon Street, intended to
destroy them but wanted to seek advice on how to do so from his mother.

The Crown argued Hall had the drugs in his possession much sooner than
he claimed, sold them to his father's associates and had no intention
to destroy them.

Hall's counsel, Steve Winter, said apart from Miss Swift's testimony,
there was no evidence his client ever dealt methamphetamine.

"There is nothing, nothing, nothing to support what Halie Swift
says."

Mr Winter said a police search found none of the equipment Miss Swift
claimed Hall had used to break down, weigh and package the drugs at
the Rongotea house.