The man accused of the rape and murder of North Shore mother-of-three Blessie Gotingco refused to stand for the jurors as they filed into court this morning.
Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The 28 year-old man with name suppression has fired his lawyers and is defending himself at the High Court in Auckland.
Court protocol dictates that the accused stands when the jury enters the courtroom but the man refused to do so. Corrections officers flanking him tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to stand, and court continued.
Detective Roger Taylor was recalled to give further evidence about a fish filleting knife he found in a drawer of the accused's North Shore apartment.
He has previously said the knife appeared to have blood and fibres on it, and the Crown's case is the DNA in the blood matches that of Mrs Gotingco.
Today Mr Taylor was questioned about the time he found the knife, which the accused has said was never used on the deceased.
