Prosecution Given 14 Days To File Voir Dire In Salavuki Murder Case

The prosecution have been given 14 days to file voir dire disclosures in the case of 20-year-old murder accused, Saula Temo.

Voir dire is an investigation into the truth or admissibility of evidence, held during a trial.

Temo who is charged with one count of murder appeared before Judge Justice Vinsent Perera at the High Court in Suva yesterday.

He is alleged to have murdered 23-year-old University of the South Pacific student, Akuila Salavuki, in May 2018.

Temo is alleged to have hit Mr Salavuki’s head with a piece of timber and as a result of that, caused Mr Salavuki’s death.

On May 17, 2018, it is alleged that the accused was dancing with the deceased at a popular Suva nightclub after which they left the club together and were allegedly seen walking hand-in-hand to the back of FDB.

The deceased was found lying in a pool of blood by two men the next day. Temo was arrested after weeks of investigation.

Prosecutor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Shirley Tivao told the court that the prosecution had received the amended grounds for voir dire and the defence was requesting for the exhibit register to which she was not sure why they required it.

She told the court that she required 14 days to file the voir dire disclosures.

Krisheel Chang, the defence lawyer from the Legal Aid Commission, told the court that during Temo’s caution interview, only certain items were shown to him and that they required the exhibit register to clarify on the items that the State would not intend to rely on.

The case has been adjourned to November 27 for mention.

Temo was further remanded while the bail application for Temo will be called tomorrow.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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