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Christchurch mosque shootings: Brenton Tarrant sacks lawyer, will represent himself in court
18 Mar, 2019 11:40am
5 minutes to read
The death toll has risen by one – 50 now confirmed dead… 34 in hospital 12 in critical condition – one of them four-year-old girl Alin Alsati. Bodies are now being returned to families.
By: Derek Cheng
derek.cheng@nzherald.co.nz
Accused mosque gunman Brenton Tarrant has dismissed his lawyer and plans to represent himself in court - raising concerns he could attempt to turn a trial into a platform for his beliefs.
The duty lawyer who represented Tarrant in court on Saturday confirmed to the Herald today that he was no longer acting for him.
Richard Peters said Tarrant appeared to be lucid and was not mentally unstable – other than the extreme views that he held.
Peters said that his job representing Tarrant ceased on Saturday - and that the accused gunman had told him he wanted to represent himself in future.
This raises the prospect of Tarrant conducting his own defence at trial and using the high-profile prosecution to promote his beliefs, which were detailed in a manifesto before Friday's shootings.
"What did seem apparent to me is he seemed quite clear and lucid, whereas this may seem like very irrational behavior," Peters said.
"He didn't appear to me to be facing any challenges or mental impairment, other than holding fairly extreme views."
Tarrant is facing one charge of murder, but is likely to face more. He was remanded in custody to appear in the High Court on April 5, and did not apply for bail or name suppression.
Brenton Tarrant is lead into the dock for his appearance in the Christchurch District Court. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Brenton Tarrant is lead into the dock for his appearance in the Christchurch District Court. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Peters said that Tarrant had not displayed any condolences or regret, but "our discussion didn't touch on that".
He said Tarrant may want to use the trial to amplify his views, and it would be up to the trial judge to deal with that.