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[–] 17820222? ago 

I am aware of the possibility in general, but can you provide any relevant NZ law or precedent on the issue? Where I live person's will regarding representation is almost absolute. There is pretty limited set of rules where a lawyer can be forced onto the defendant by the court, and even then that lawyer has to shut up and let the defendant represent himself if he is able to(not mentally or physically impaired). So when I see two lawyers assigned for some reason, even if from the same law firm, it looks really weird to me, but maybe NZ law allows for this…

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[–] 17820236? ago 

I honestly don't know NZ law on the subject. My law training is Canadian and here it is well established as a protection to the defendant. To be clear, "Second Chair" means they are there to assist only. They can take over questioning or prepare documents if the defendant wants, but the defendant is free to ignore all the advice they are given and not let the lawyer speak in court at all. This arrangement can only help the defendant (for example suggesting the defendant object when the Crown crosses the line in what they are doing or finding precedent cases that support the case the defendant wants to make) and there really is no room for the defendant to be harmed by the lawyer's presence.

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[–] 17820258? ago 

Thanks for the clarification. Probably the same in NZ then, common law and all. Then the only way they can use these two lawyers nefariously is to ignore the law completely and I don't think they are prepared to go down that road, even considering the whole Voldemort treatment he is getting in the country.

Still, all of the articles I see about these lawyers make it out as if Brenton appointed them himself, instead of court appointing them for him. I guess we'll just have to wait and see further reports to understand what is going on.