IT is a case about 700 kilograms of cocaine, a 13-metre catamaran, the journey of a lifetime from Tahiti to Toronto and an international drug syndicate that uses the code names "Black Prince", "Spider Wizard", "Scarecrow" and "Brisk Eagle".
But for Craig Lembke, the Newcastle sailor and musician accused of being involved in the drug importation plot, it's really a case about state of mind.
The prosecution say Mr Lembke either knew there was an illicit substance on board the 13-metre catamaran that he sailed from Tahiti to Lake Macquarie or, importantly, that he "knew or believed that there was a real or significant chance" that there was a substance hidden in the Skarabej.
They say a drug syndicate member offered Mr Lembke $500,000 to deliver the yacht and then another $500,000 to help unload the drugs.
They say it's a circumstantial case, but that Mr Lembke used an encrypted phone to communicate with members of the drug syndicate, used a "spy name" and went to great lengths to distance himself from those responsible for the importation.
They say he was worried about undercover police officers and concerned the wrong sort of people might know he had some money coming in.
And even if he didn't know about the drugs, they say he agreed to ferry a syndicate member out to the catamaran after it had arrived at Toronto and after he had been offered an additional $500,000 so the syndicate member could cut holes in the boat. The defence say there is no dispute Mr Lembke sailed the boat back to Australia, but he had no idea about the drugs on board.
They point to the prosecution's key witness, a drug syndicate member serving a maximum 19 years in jail for his role in the importation, who gave evidence that Mr Lembke was deliberately not told about the 700 kilograms of cocaine in the catamaran's hull. The defence say Mr Lembke was duped, tricked, taken advantage of. And they say that key prosecution witness agrees.
"That's startling evidence, ladies and gentlemen," Public Defender Peter Krisenthal, for Mr Lembke, told the jury at the outset of his closing address.
"The main man, the witness for the prosecution, a witness for the prosecution who received a very significant discount on his sentence, agrees that Mr Lembke wasn't told that there were drugs on the boat and that he was duped. "That's been Craig Lembke's case all along."
Mr Krisenthal focused on a number of conversations, recorded by police listening devices, including one where a syndicate member tells Mr Lembke the plan was to put something "in" the boat. "If he is of the view that they are coming to put something onto the boat, it's got nothing to do with importation," Mr Krisenthal said.
And after rigorously cross examining him, Mr Krisenthal used his closing address to attack the credibility of the prosecution's key witness. "There is no beating around the bush, in my submission to you [the syndicate member] is a dishonest and manipulative man who will say and do whatever he chooses in order to satisfy his immediate needs," Mr Krisenthal said.
And he highlighted the character evidence in Mr Lembke's defence case; the friends who spoke of Mr Lembke's honesty and loyalty and said his arrest and alleged involvement was completely out-of-character.
"That's the question," Mr Krisenthal told the jury. "Do you really think that Mr Lembke would engage in this behaviour in a manner which is so different to the way that he's lived his life up until now?"
The prosecution say he knew, the defence say he didn't. And after listening to five weeks of evidence and another four days of closing addresses, the jury in Mr Lembke's drug importation trial will retire on Friday to begin determining his fate.
"The main man, the witness for the prosecution, agrees Mr Lembke wasn't told there were drugs on the boat and he was duped. That's been Craig Lembke's case all along."
Public Defender Peter Krisenthal said.
