Hoffmann murder trial facing lengthy delay as mental impairment defence revived at the 11th hour

Alleged Darwin shooter Ben Hoffmann’s murder trial will likely not go ahead as planned later this month after his defence counsel revived the possibility of a defence of mental impairment.

UPDATE 5PM: ALLEGED Darwin shooter Ben Hoffmann’s murder trial will likely not go ahead as planned later this month after his defence counsel revived the possibility of a defence of mental impairment.

After a day of pre-trial hearings on Monday, Hoffmann’s lawyer Jon Tippett QC, told the court he expected to receive an 11th hour report supporting a plea of not guilty due to mental impairment within a week.

Chief Justice Michael Grant said that would “almost inevitably” result in the trial being postponed for a lengthy period and Hoffmann likely having to submit to a psychiatric evaluation by an expert nominated by the Crown.

“The consequence of that is that necessarily Mr Hoffmann will be remanded in custody until another nine or 10 week special block listing can be identified and that will be a significant time in the future,” he said.

Crown prosecutor Matt Nathan SC pointed out 182 witnesses had already been subpoenaed to appear at the trial due to start in late March but Chief Justice Grant said, given the nature of the charges, Hoffmann’s lawyers couldn’t be precluded from presenting the evidence at short notice.

EARLIER: THE key question for jurors in Ben Hoffmann’s upcoming murder trial will be whether he was so high on ice when he allegedly killed four people he was incapable of forming the intention to do so, a court has heard.

Hoffmann is due to face trial in the Supreme Court later this month for allegedly gunning down three people and stabbing another man to death in Darwin in June 2019.

In a pre-trial hearing on Monday, Crown prosecutor Matt Nathan SC said “given these offences occurred in public places under the scrutiny of CCTV footage and any number of witnesses at peak hour”, the “only live issue” was Hoffmann’s level of intoxication at the time.

“The intent of the accused is the primary fact in issue in relation to this matter and perhaps more importantly, whether he held that intent despite his intoxication to methamphetamine,” he said.

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Mr Nathan said CCTV footage from the Buff Club where 57-year-old Michael Sisois lost his life on June 4 showed Hoffmann speaking to him prior to his death.

“The accused then strikes Mr Sisois to the head, he falls down to the ground and appears not to move and it appears he’s then approached by the accused with a knife that’s placed at the throat,” he said.

“Then there’s another patron who drives up, he’s interrupted and goes to get a gun.”

Mr Nathan said in the absence of evidence of Hoffmann’s intoxication it was “almost inevitable” a jury would conclude he had intended to kill or seriously harm the men.

“The fundamental decision for the jury, the fact in issue, is whether or not the accused formed a specific intent, despite his intoxication,” he said.

“The jury will need to come to a conclusion, based on all of the evidence naturally, as to what were the primary reasons behind — I suppose the motive of the accused — why he did what he did.”

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Hoffmann’s barrister, Jon Tippett QC, said while prosecutors would still have to prove his client did what they alleged, it was the defence’s position that ”identity and conduct is not at issue in this trial”.

“The prosecution materials don’t indicate, at this stage, difficulty with identification and those materials are extensive in relation to nature of conduct,” he said.

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