An ACT Supreme Court jury has been urged to consider whether a group of bikies might have been responsible for a shooting in Canberra last year, during which a drug dealer was shot in the face.
Sugimatatihuna 'Sugi' Mena, 24, is on trial for attempted murder after the victim was shot three times at a home in Spence in Canberra's north in March 2021.
The court previously heard the victim had been at a friend's house after "catching up with people for drug deals", when Mr Mena, Bradley Joe Roberts, 24, and Rebecca Dulcie Parlov, 25, all allegedly stormed the house to "whack" him.
Mr Roberts and Ms Parlov have both been charged with aggravated burglary.
On Tuesday, prosecutors alleged that Ms Parlov and Mr Roberts yelled as they advanced toward the victim after gaining entry to the home.
The victim admitted he picked up a knife to defend himself, preparing to "knuckle on", when Ms Parlov allegedly said: "You want to pull a knife on a girl?"
It is alleged that is when Mr Mena went into the house and fired at the victim.
Prosecutor Trent Hickey told the court the shooting happened after there was a rumour about the victim being a paedophile.
But Ms Parlov's lawyer, Keegan Lee, told the jury they should dismiss that idea.
"The motive suggested by the Crown is implausible," he said.
Instead, Mr Lee cast doubt over the accounts of the victim and his friend who was in the house, suggesting they had lied about who was responsible.
"Only days before [the victim] was being threatened by members of a motorcycle gang," Mr Lee said.
Mr Roberts's lawyer, Mary Keaney, also pointed to "dramas" the victim was having with others in the days leading up to the shooting.
She said if someone else had carried out the shooting, the pair may have been motivated by an "anti-snitching" culture to lie about it.
But Mr Hickey said even if the victim's memory was poor, because of the trauma, that did not mean his account was wrong.
"We remember the significant events, probably like having a gun pointed at you and who the people were that came in," Mr Hickey said.
"When [the victim] spoke to police a week after it happened he told them who came into his house and who did it."
He said there was also other evidence for the jury to consider, including a graphic account by the woman whose home the incident took place at.
"She said Sugi has come through the door and stood in front of the … door … and then she heard the gun go off," Mr Hickey said.
"She told us who it was because she recognised him.
"This was not a case where she was trying to describe a stranger that had come into her house. She knew him."
He also pointed to a record of conversations between the group on Facebook.
Accused's lawyer alleges text message suggested who to blame
Identification has been at the heart of the case.
Ms Keaney questioned whether had previously questioned if the victim even knew Mr Roberts, after he had mixed up his name as Ben or Brad.
She said at one point the victim said he had met Mr Roberts a couple of times, and on another occasion, he said he only met him that day.
Mr Mena's lawyer, James Sabharwal, also raised questions about how the pair came to identify the three people on trial.
He pointed to the messages the woman had sent to a friend desperately seeking help.
After a few exchanges, the friend asks: "Who shot him… I bet it was Bec and her crew."
Mr Sabharwal told the jury it was that friend who had suggested it was them.
The jury will retire on Wednesday.
Editor's note 19/08/2022: Two days after the jury retired, it returned to court to declare it could not reach a verdict.
Prosecutors indicated they would seek a re-trial, but the court calendar for 2022 is already full, so a new hearing will not be held until 2023.
The court heard the accused were planning to seek bail in the interim.
