Defence for murder accused bikie Daniel Jalleh tells jury he ‘wasn’t there’ when Jason De Ieso shot
A bikie standing trial charged with the murder of an innocent man simply “wasn’t there”, an Adelaide court has heard.
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A bikie standing trial accused of murdering innocent man Jason De Ieso was “roped in” to the prosecution because he was Hells Angels member but he “just wasn’t there”, a court has heard.
Lindy Powell KC began her closing address into the long-running Supreme Court murder trial of eight men accused of murdering Mr De Ieso at his Langford St, Pooraka, business on November 21, 2012.
Prosecutors have alleged her client, Daniel Mark Jalleh, 34, of Clovelly Park, was among the nine Hells Angels-linked men who are accused of storming the business and shooting Mr De Ieso in a case of mistaken identity amid an escalating war with the Finks.
Ms Powell told the court her client had been “roped in by prosecutors as being a key player” but told the court her client “just wasn’t there”.
She said her client was only named by the suppressed key witness as one of the men who had gathered at a Salisbury Hwy, Parafield Gardens, home prior to the shooting after police had first “sown the seed”.
She said police had told the witness during an interview that “we’d really like you to help yourself and help us” and that the names of the accused “had been given to him and sown in his mind”.
“He was either added in as an afterthought or added in where there was a person missing in the story and someone had to be added in simply to make up the numbers or to make the story possible,” she said.
“When you needed an extra name, Mr Jalleh was just pulled in because he’s a known member, he’s a known associate and subsequently a member of the Hells Angels.”
She also adopted the submissions of the other defence lawyers who have so far delivered their closing addresses – Winston Terracini KC, Grant Algie, KC and Andrew Fowler-Walker – that the key witness’s evidence was not credible or reliable.
“His evidence is untrustworthy and … it would be dangerous to rely on it,” she said.
Prosecutors allege Mr Jalleh had also been involved in the destruction of one of the cars police believe had been used to ferry a group of men to the scene of the shooting.
That car, a white Mazda 2 which the jury heard belonged to a woman linked to the accused, was torched near Kangarilla in the hours after the shooting.
Ms Powell also denied her client was involved in destroying the car, saying he also “wasn’t there”.
Mr Jalleh is standing trial alongside Husain Alzuain, 35, of Goodwood, Mohamed Alzuain, 32, of Mile End, Musa Ali Alzuain, 30, of St Morris, Ross William Montgomery, 38, of Andrews Farm, Seywan Moradi, 36, of Walkley Heights, Kyle Lloyd Pryde, 35, of Adelaide and Nicholas Sianis, 36, of Beverley.
A ninth man prosecutors allege was among the men has since died. All men have pleaded not guilty to murder.
Prosecutors have alleged the intended target of the shooting was senior Finks member Charles Bonnici and that Mr De Ieso was an innocent man caught in the crossfire.
The trial is continuing.
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